THE  AMERICAN 
APPLE   ORCHARD 


Other  Books  by  the  Same  Author 

LANDSCAPE  GARDENING 

PLUMS  AND  PLUM  CULTURE 

FRUIT  HARVESTING,  STORING,  MARKETING 

SYSTEMATIC  POMOLOGY 

DWARF  FRUIT  TREES 


The  American 
Apple  Orchard 


A  Sketch  of  the  Practice  of  Apple 
Growing  in  North  America  at  the 
Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century 


By 

F.  A.  WAUGH 


Fully  Illustrated 


ORANGE    JUDD    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  1912 


COPYRIGHT,   1908,  BY 
ORANGE   JUDD   COMPANY 


All  right}  reserved 


Pointed  in  U.S.A. 


TO 
THADDEUS  L.   KINNEY 

APPLE    GROWER 


268716 


The  American  Apple  Orchard 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 
I.     The  Geography  of  Apple  Growing 1 

II.     Apple  Soils 5 

Exposures 

III.  Windbreaks 8 

IV.  Winterkilling 14 

V.     Starting  the  Orchard 17 

A  Good  Nursery  Tree. 
How  to  Get  Trees. 
Methods  of  Propagation. 
Fall  vs.  Spring  Planting. 
Distances  for  Planting. 
Planting  Tables. 
Double  Planting. 
Preparation  for  Planting. 
Planting  Out  the  Trees. 
Double- Working. 

VI.     Orchard  Cultivation e     ....     48 

Objects  of  Cultivation. 

VII.     Methods  of  Cultivation 63 

Cover  Crops 69 

Methods  of  Management. 
The  Various  Crops. 
Quantity  of  Seed  Per  Acre. 

IX.     Pruning 77 

High  Heads  vs.  Low  Heads. 
The  Framework. 
The  Second  Stage. 
The  Fruiting  Stage. 
Odd  Years. 

ix 


X  TABLE  OF   CONTENTS 

The  Time  to  Prune. 
Painting  Wounds. 
Pruning  Tools. 
How  to  Make  the  Cut. 

X.     Feeding  the  Trees 94 

XI.     The  Insect  Campaign  99 

XII.     The  Principal  Diseases Ill 

XIII.  Other  Troubles 119 

XIV.  Spraying  Machinery 123 

XV.     Solutions  for  Spraying 131 

Bordeaux  Mixture. 

Copper  Sulphate  Solution. 

The  Lime-Sulphur  Mixture. 

Paris  Green. 

Arsenate  of  Lead. 

Arsenite  of  Lime. 

Soluble  Oils. 

Combined  Insecticides  and  Fungicides. 

Dust  Sprays. 

Some  General  Observations. 

The  Spraying  Campaign. 

XVI.  Harvesting  and  Marketing  the  Fruit 149 

Picking  Apples. 
Sorting  Apples. 
The  Apple  Barrel. 
Apple  Boxes. 
Packing  Apples. 
Apple  Storage. 

XVII.  The  Family  Orchard 182 

Rules  for  Choosing  Varieties. 

XVIII.  Renovation  of  Old  Orchards 188 

XIX.  The  Selection  of  Varieties 192 

Remarks  on  Particular  Varieties. 
Varieties  for  Various  Districts. 
Keeping  Quality  of  Varieties. 
XX.     Catalog  of  Varieties 205 


The  American  Apple  Orchard 


I 

THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  APPLE  GROWING 

THE  apple  is  the  most  widely  grown  of  tree  fruits ; 
and  though  it  cannot  cover  quite  so  great  a  range  of 
latitude  as  the  plum,  it  is,  after  all,  more  generally 
known  and  prized  than  any  other  fruit  of  any  longi- 
tude or  zone.  Nevertheless  the  extreme  northern  and 
southern  agricultural  regions  of  our  continent  are 
practically  outside  the  apple  country.  Even  within 
the  apple  country  there  are  great  inequalities  of  dis- 
tribution. Certain  regions  are  not  well  adapted  to 
apple  culture,  while  in  others  this  fruit  has  become 
the  basis  of  a  great  industry.  The  ten  leading  states, 
as  shown  by  the  number  of  apple  trees  reported  in  the 
census  of  1900,  were  as  follows: 

States  Trees 

Missouri    20,040,399 

New  York   15,054,832 

Illinois     13,430,006 

Ohio    12,952,625 

Kansas    1 1 ,848,070 

Pennsylvania    1 1,774,21 1 

Michigan 10,927,899 

Kentucky    8,757,238 

Indiana   8,624,593 

Virginia    8,190,025 


THE   GEOGRAPHY   OF   APPLE   GROWING  3 

Of  course  some  of  these  states  rank  above  others 
simply  because  of  their  size.  Statistics  taken  by 
counties  show  in  a  yet  more  striking  manner  how  the 
planting  of  apple  trees  has  been  developed  in  special 
localities.  The  ten  counties  in  the  United  States  which 
led  in  the  number  of  trees  growing  in  1900  were  as 
follows : 

County  State                            Trees 

Benton,  Arkansas   1,613,366 

Washington,    Arkansas   1,555,146 

Niagara,  New  York    924,086 

Wayne,  New  York    796,610 

Marion,  Illinois     795, 1 88 

Monroe,  New  York    789,409 

Clay,  Illinois     751,724 

Erie,  New  York    631,283 

Orleans,  New  York    629,401 

Wayne,  Illinois,    604,215 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  these  ten  counties  represent 
only  three  states. 

There  are  several  well-recognized  apple  sections 
which  may  be  separately  characterized.  The  principal 
ones  are: 

1.  The   Lake  Ontario   Section — This  comprises 
the  northwestern  counties  of  New  York  and  adjacent 
parts  of  Ontario.     A  part  of  southeastern  Michigan 
naturally  belongs  to  this  belt.     It  is  a  section  largely 
devoted    to     Baldwin     and   Rhode    Island    Greening. 
Other  varieties  grown  commercially  on  a  considerable 
area  are  Northern  Spy,  King  and  Roxbury. 

2.  The  Mississippi  Valley  Section — This  includes 
portions  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Kansas  and  Ar- 
kansas, with  practically  all  of  Missouri  and  Illinois. 


4  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

While  this  great  region  can  be  subdivided  to  some  ex- 
tent, yet  varieties  and  methods  are  sufficiently  alike  in 
the  several  states  to  justify  us  in  grouping  them  to- 
gether. Ben  Davis  is  the  characteristic  variety,  though 
many  other  sorts  are  grown  commercially,  as  Jonathan, 
Grimes,  York  Imperial,  Willow  and  Missouri  Pippin. 

3.  The  Allegheny  Section — This  comprises  those 
lands  along  the  slopes  of  the  Allegheny  mountains 
lying  in  Pennsylvania,  western  Maryland,  West  Vir- 
ginia, western  Virginia,  eastern  Tennessee  and  west- 
ern North  Carolina.     The  characteristic  variety  here 
is  York  Imperial,  though  other  varieties  are  extensive- 
ly grown,  as  Ben  Davis,  Paragon,  Winesap,  Grimes, 
and  in  Virginia  the  famous  Albemarle  Pippin. 

4.  The  Nova  Scotia    Section,    comprising  rather 
limited  areas  in  Nova  Scotia,  where,  however,  the  ap- 
ple-growing industry  is  highly  developed.     The  most 
striking  feature  of  the  Nova  Scotian  industry  is  the 
development  of  the  British  markets.     The  leading  va- 
rieties  grown  are  Baldwin,   Roxbury    (locally   called 
Nonpareil),   Northern   Spy,   Rhode   Island   Greening 
and  Gravenstein. 

5.  The  Pacific  Coast   Section,    including   several 
segregated  and  somewhat  dissimilar  districts  in  Wash- 
ington, Oregon  and  California.     The  varieties  mostly 
grown  are  Esopus,  Jonathan,  Newtown  Pippin  and 
Yellow  Belleflower. 

There  are  various  places  outside  these  sections 
where  apples  are  grown  commercially  and  where  very 
interesting  local  adaptations  are  to  be  found.  These 
five  sections,  however,  produce  the  great  bulk  of  all 
the  fruit  which  annually  reaches  foreign  and  domestic 
markets. 


II 

APPLE  SOILS 

THE  apple  thrives  on  a  great  variety  of  soils.  In- 
deed, it  is  grown  to  some  extent  on  almost  every  kind 
of  arable  soil  in  America.  When  planted  on  large 
commercial  areas  with  a  view  to  profit,  however,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  select  those  particular  soils  which 
give  the  best  results. 

First  of  all,  it  is  obvious  that  apple  trees  can  be  ac- 
commodated only  in  a  deep  soil.  Naturally  the  roots 
extend  to  considerable  depths,  and  unless  a  porous 
open  subsoil  is  present  the  tree  does  not  have  proper 
opportunity  for  rooting.  In  soils  with  impervious 
hardpan,  or  in  those  where  the  water  table  is  near  the 
surface,  apple  trees  do  not  succeed  well.  It  is  gen- 
erally known  that  apple  trees  are  very  impatient  of  wet 
feet.  This  can  easily  be  seen  in  orchards  where  there 
are  small  spots  of  poorly  drained  land  where  the 
water  stands.  In  such  spots  the  trees  are  always  poor, 
and  they  usually  die  out  early,  leaving  blank  places  in 
the  orchard.  It  has  been  observed  that  a  twisted 
growth  of  the  apple  tree  trunk  indicates  imperfect  un- 
derdrainage.  Some  of  these  soils  of  course  can  be 
improved,  or  the  difficulty  entirely  corrected,  by  thor- 
ough underdrainage.  As  a  rule,  however,  only  those 
soils  which  are  naturally  deep  and  well  drained  should 
be  chosen  for  apple  orchards. 

A  somewhat  gravelly  soil,  or  even  one  verging 
somewhat  on  stony,  has  been  found  by  experience  to 
be  highly  satisfactory  for  apple  growing,  provided 


O  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

only  there  is  an  abundance  of  plant  food  present.  The 
gravel  and  small  stones  doubtless  assist  in  the  drain- 
age, and  this  fact  probably  explains  in  part  the  su- 
periority of  such  soils.  As  a  rule  we  may  say  that 
gravelly  loam,  fairly  rich  in  plant  food,  is  the  ideal 
apple  soil.  The  soil  surveys  now  being  made  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  have,  in  a  general  way,  verified 
the  commonly  accepted  opinion  on  this  point.  Some  of 
the  soils  well  known  as  successful  apple  producers 
have  now  been  described,  mapped  and  given  name's. 
That  soil  known  as  Porter's  black  loam,  found  in  ex- 
tensive areas  along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains,  is  noted  for  its  adaptation  to  the 
growing  of  apples.  It  is  upon  this  soil  that  the  Al- 
bemarle  Pippin  of  Virginia  is  grown.  In  western 
New  York  the  Miami  stony  loam  may  be  mentioned 
as  a  soil  of  well-proved  adaptability  for  apples.  This 
is  widely  represented  in  Wayne  county,  known  as 
one  of  the  best  apple-growing  counties  in  America. 

In  other  parts  of  the  country  sandy  loams  or  even 
silt  loams  are  found  to  be  successful  in  the  production 
of  apples.  The  Miami  silt  loam  furnishes  the  prin- 
cipal basis  of  a  large  apple-growing  industry  in  Clin- 
ton county,  111.,  while  the  so-called  Marion  silt  loam 
is  the  soil  chiefly  developed  in  the  famous  Clay  county, 
111.,  apple  district.  On  the  Delaware  Peninsula,  where 
the  production  of  early  apples  is  coming  to  be  an  ex- 
tensive and  profitable  industry,  orchards  are  planted 
chiefly  on  the  Norfolk  loam  and  Norfolk  silt  loam. 

A  rule  which  the  writer  has  been  in  the  habit  of 
giving  for  popular  use  is  that  any  soil  especially  adapt- 
ed to  the  growing  of  Irish  potatoes  will  usually  be 
satisfactory  for  apples.  If  any  difference  is  to  be 
distinguished  it  would  be  in  the  way  of  allowing  a 


APPLE   SOILS  7 

larger  amount  of  gravel  or  loose  broken  stone  in  an 
apple  orchard  than  in  a  potato  field.  Indeed,  there 
seems  to  be  no  limit  in  the  amount  of  loose  stone 
which  may  be  present  in  an  apple  soil,  except  the 
limit  of  cultivation.  Even  this  limit  is  not  so  soon 
reached  as  might  be  expected,  for  proper  tools  will 
give  satisfactory  cultivation  in  apple  orchards  contain- 
ing remarkable  quantities  of  broken  stone  on  the 
surface. 

EXPOSURES 

A  great  deal  of  time  has  been  spent  in  the  discus- 
sion of  the  proper  exposure  for  orchards.  The  popu- 
lar theory  is  that  southern  exposures  are  dangerous 
because  they  induce  early  blossoming  of  the  trees,  thus 
giving  opportunity  for  the  blossoms  to  be  killed  by  late 
frosts.  In  those  localities  where  serious  late  frosts 
frequently  occur  this  objection  obviously  has  some 
force,  but  a  careful  study  of  the  situation  reveals  the 
fact  that  such  localities  are  decidedly  rare.  High- 
lands with  good  air  drainage  are  generally  pre- 
ferred ;  but  this  for  other  reasons  than  because  of  late 
spring  frosts* 


Ill 

WINDBREAKS 

A  PROPER  site  being  chosen,  some  protection  from 
wind  may  still  be  desirable.  Tracts  of  land  freely  ex- 
posed to  constant  hard  winds  are  undesirable,  but  al- 
most any  orchard  may  be  benefited  by  a  certain  amount 
of  protection. 

The  utility  of  windbreaks  for  orchard  protection  is 
a  subject  which  has  been  often  discussed  among  Amer- 
ican fruit  growers.  It  is  a  subject,  moreover,  on  which 
a  fair  unanimity  has  been  reached.  There  may  still 
be  a  few  exceptions  to  the  statements  noted  below,  but 
for  the  most  part  the  matter  is  fairly  well  settled. 

There  are  three  general  purposes  for  which  wind- 
breaks are  cultivated:  (i)  Protection  during  winter; 
(2)  summer  protection;  (3)  protection  of  fruit  in 
picking  time.  It  will  be  best  to  discuss  these  in  order. 

Perhaps  the  object  which  has  been  most  often  dis- 
cussed is  that  of  winter  protection.  It  seems  to  have 
been  felt,  especially  in  the  more  northern  states,  that 
the  common  fruits  are  all  more  or  less  tender  and, 
therefore,  subject  to  damage  during  the  cold  weather 
of  winter.  A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  winter- 
killing; and,  indeed,  more  or  less  damage  to  young 
growth  and  to  fruit  buds  has  been  observed  by  almost 
every  fruit  grower,  no  matter  in  what  part  of  the 
country  his  work  has  been  done. 

It  must  'be  said,  however,  that  the  principal  use  of 
the  windbreak  does  not  seem  to  be  that  of  furnishing 
winter  protection.  Nor  is  it  the  best  use.  Even  when 


WINDBREAKS  Q 

winterkilling  is  a  serious  factor. in  the  management 
of  an  orchard  the  greatest  protection  does  not  come 
apparently  from  the  use  of  windbreaks.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  they  ever  mitigate  low  temperatures  to  any 
important  extent.  They  do  stop  the  wind  to  some 
degree,  even  in  winter,  and  thereby  reduce  slightly 
the  evaporation  of  moisture  from  the  twigs,  which  is 
apt  to  be  the  greatest  source  of  winterkilling.  Per- 
haps they  are  more  useful  as  a  means  of  winter  pro- 
tection from  the  fact  that  they  usually  hold  the  snow 
on  the  ground.  They  also  prevent  the  blowing  of 
leaves  and  such  other  litter  as  may  help  to  hold  the 
snow,  and  which  may  give  some  protection.  The 
snow  and  litter  thus  retained  on  the  ground  protect 
the  soil  from  severe  freezing,  and  from  alternate  freez- 
ing and  thawing;  whereas,  without  the  windbreak,  the 
ground  might  remain  bare,  and  the  roots  of  the  fruit 
trees  might  be  disastrously  frozen  in  consequence. 

In  most  parts  -of  the  cojuntry  the  protection  of  trees 
in  summer  is  of  vastly  more  importance  than  their 
protection  in  winter.  The  mechanical  strain  brought 
about  by  the  pressure  of  excessive  winds  is  often  the 
source  of  serious  trouble  to  the  orchardist.  In  ex- 
posed localities  or  where  heavy  winds  prevail  during 
growing  time  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  a  symmet- 
rical top  on  rapid  growing  trees.  It  is  a  not  uncom- 
mon sight  to  see  a  young  tree  with  the  top  all  on  the 
north  or  northwest  side,  due -to  the  action  of  the  wind. 
A  windbreak  which  prevents  the  sweeping  of  direct 
winds  across  the  orchard  during  the  summer,  more- 
over, is  of  considerable  help  in  the  conservation  of 
moisture.  It  has  been  shown  by  careful  experiments, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  wide  observation  among  practical 
men,  that  the  soil  dries  out  very  rapidly  when  the 


IO  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

wind  is  allowed  to  pass  over  it,  and  that  evaporation 
is  much  less  from  ground  not  open  to  the  sweep  of  the 
wind.  Since  the  conservation  of  moisture  is  one  of 
the  large  and  fundamental  problems  in  orchard  man- 
agement, the  use  of  the  windbreak  in  securing  this 
end  is  highly  desirable. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  use  of  all  to  which 
the  windbreak  is  put  in  the  management  of  apple 
orchards  is  the  protection  of  the  fruit  toward  picking 
time.  It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  for  heavy  September 
gales  to  bring  down  25,  50  or  even  75  per  cent  of  the 
entire  crop  of  apples ;  the  losses  from  this  source  some- 
times amount  to  hundreds,  or  even  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, in  individual  orchards. 

There  are  objections  which  always  come  up  with 
more  or  less  force  when  the  planting  of  a  windbreak 
is  considered.  In  the  first  place  the  windbreak  takes 
up  a  certain  amount  of  land.  It  never  requires  less 
room  than  would  an  entire  row  of  fruit  trees  of  the 
same  length,  and  it  usually  requires  more.  Even  when 
a  space  somewhat  greater  than  this  is  allowed  to  the 
windbreak,  it  is  often  found  that  the  outer  rows  of 
fruit  trees  are  starved  by  the  greedy  feeding  of  the 
trees  in  the  windbreak.  In  other  cases  atmospheric 
drainage  is  seriously  interfered  with,  though  this 
defect  can  usually  be  remedied  by  proper  foresight. 
In  some  cases  windbreaks  harbor  insect  pests,  but 
though  this  objection  has  been  frequently  urged 
against  them,  it  has  usually  been  considerably  over- 
drawn. In  fact,  the  only  important  objection,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  writer,  is  the  one  first  mentioned. 

All  windbreaks  will  naturally  be  planted  on  that  side 
of  the  orchard  from  which  the  wind  comes.  Since 
the  prevailing  winds  are  sometimes  from  one  quarter 


WINDBREAKS  II 

at  one  season  of  the  year  and  from  another  quarter 
at  another  season,  it  becomes  necessary  to  consider 
whether  the  windbreak  is  intended  chiefly  for  winter, 
summer,  or  picking-time  protection.  Sometimes  all 
three  are  required;  many  of  the  best  orchards  have 
windbreaks  around  their  entire  circumference.  There 
is  too  much  trouble  and  expense,  however,  attached 
to  the  maintenance  of  a  windbreak  to  justify  a  man 
in  keeping  one  where  it  is  not  plainly  required. 

The  materials  which  may  form  the  windbreak  are 
various.  Each  mar.  must  judge  for  himself  which  is 
most  practicable  in  his  own  locality  and  under  his 
own  circumstances.  In  many  cases  the  lay  of  the 
land  may  be  depended  on.  Some  of  the  best  orchards 
and  fruit-growing  regions  in  America  arc  to  be  found 
on  sharp  mountain  slopes  or  along  steep  hillsides.  In 
such  cases  the  slope  of  the  mountain  or  hill  may  be 
sufficient  to  furnish  all  necessary  protection  from  the 
wind.  In  other  cases  natural  woods  or  belts  of  tim- 
ber occur  in  convenient  proximity  to  the  orchard  and 
in  such  a  way  as  to  furnish  the  desired  shelter.  Nat- 
ural woods  give  the  greatest  possible  protection,  but, 
more  than  any  other  windbreak,  they  are  open  to  the 
charge  of  harboring  noxious  insects,  rabbits,  mice  and 
other  vermin. 

Under  most  circumstances  it  is  necessary  to  plant 
artificial  timber  belts  for  the  protection  of  the  orchard 
where  protection  is  desired.  These  may  be  either  of 
evergreen  trees  or  of  deciduous  species.  The  conifers, 
such  as  pines,  spruces,  hemlock  and  arbor  vitae,  all 
make  good  windbreaks,  and  are  especially  desirable 
where  winter  protection  is  the  main  consideration. 
They  are  somewhat  more  difficult  to  transplant  and 
establish  than  deciduous  trees  are,  but  there  is  seldom 


12  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

any  difficulty  with  them,  provided  they  are  intelli- 
gently handled.  The  particular  species  which  should 
be  chosen  cannot  be  pointed  out.  If  spruce  thrives 
best  in  the  soil  and  locality  under  consideration,  then 
spruce  should  be  planted.  In  some  neighborhoods 
arbor  vitse  is  easy  to  establish  and  is  very  satisfactory. 
In  other  places  the  white  pine  is  generally  regarded  as 
one  of  the  best  trees  for  protective  timber  belts. 

Deciduous  trees,  besides  being  easier  to  establish, 
are  usually  more  rapid  growers  during  their  early 
years.  It  is  easier  to  form  a  dense  belt  of  them  in  a 
short  time.  They  are  more  likely  to  thin  out  below, 
thus  avoiding  the  objection  of  obstructing  atmospheric 
drainage.  In  case  a  very  thick  and  altogether  effective 
windbreak  is  desired,  alternate  rows  of  evergreens  and 
broad-leaved  species  would  best  answer  the  require- 
ments. 

In  some  orchards  it  is  possible  to  arrange  the  fruit 
trees  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  furnish  more  or  less 
protection  for  each  other.  It  is  customary  in  some 
localities  to  plant  the  trees  closer  together  east  and 
west  than  they  are  north  and  south.  They  soon  form 
thick  rows — sometimes  almost  hedgerows — of  trees 
running  crosswise  of  the  course  of  the  principal 
winds.  Sometimes  tall  growing  and  sturdy  varieties 
like  Spy  and  Ben  Davis  are  planted  on  the  outside  of 
the  orchard  next  to  the  wind.  The  fruit  of  Spy  trees 
very  seldom  blows  off.  The  same  is  true  in  a  less  ex- 
tent of  Ben  Davis.  Such  varieties  may  be  used,  there- 
fore, as  windbreaks  for  the  rest  of  the  orchard. 

In  young  orchards  temporary  protection  may  some- 
times be  secured  at  picking  time  by  planting  between 
the  rows  with  tall-growing  varieties  of  dent  corn. 
The  corn  will  reach  such  a  height  before  picking  time 


WINDBREAKS  13 

as  to  prevent  the  too  free  circulation  of  the  wind 
among  the  trees.  This  plan,  however,  is  a  makeshift 
and  not  to  be  generally  recommended. 

When  trees  are  planted  for  windbreaks  they  should 
nearly  always  be  set  at  the  same  time  the  fruit  trees 
are.  If  spruce,  pine  or  hemlock  are  to  be  used,  how- 
ever, and  if  it  can  be  conveniently  done,  it  may  be  best 
to  put  out  the  windbreak  two  or  three  years  in  ad- 
vance of  the  fruit  trees.  Spruce  and  pine  start  so 
slowly  that  they  often  give  very  inadequate  protection 
during  the  first  years,  when  perhaps  their  help  is  most 
needed  by  the  young  fruit  trees. 


IV 

WINTERKILLING 

IN  considering  geographic  and  climatic  factors  we 
must  give  some  attention  to  another  matter  which  is  of 
considerable  importance  in  certain  localities.  Winter- 
killing has  always  been  a  large  and  interesting  problem 
with  fruit  growers  in  this  country,  but  is  of  compara- 
tively little  importance  in  growing  apples,  especially 
in  the  management  of  commercial  orchards.  In  the 
great  apple-growing  regions  winterkilling  is  practi- 
cally a  negligible  factor.  In  sections  where  winter- 
killing is  a  serious  danger  apple  growing  can  never 
become  an  extensive  industry.  Since,  however,  every 
householder  in  every  civilized  community  in  temper- 
ate climates  wishes  to  grow  some  apples,  and  since 
winterkilling  is  a  really  serious  matter  in  some  of  these 
localities,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  this  subject  with 
due  care. 

Winterkilling  is  of  three  sorts :  ( I )  The  killing  of 
the  buds;  (2)  the  killing  of  the  young  growth;  (3) 
root  killing.  The  killing  of  fruit  buds,  though  a  very 
serious  matter  in  peach  growing  and  with  some  va- 
rieties of  plums,  very  seldom  occurs  with  apples.  Ap- 
ple buds  are  well  protected  and  hardy.  Any  variety 
sufficiently  hardy  to  carry  its  wood  through  the  winter 
will  usually  save  its  buds  also. 

The  young  growth  on  apple  trees  sometimes  kills  in 
severe  winters.  This  damage  is  more  likely  to  occur 
on  newly  planted  trees  than  on  those  well  established. 
It  has  been  shown  that  this  damage  occurs  largely 

14 


WINTERKILLING  1$ 

through  the  drying  out  of  the  young  shoots,  due  to  the 
fact  that,  while  some  evaporation  still  goes  on  during 
the  winter,  the  tree  cannot  take  up  water  from  the 
frozen  soil  to  make  good  this  evaporation.  The  young 
shoots,  therefore,  become  so  thoroughly  dried  out  dur- 
ing cold  weather  that  the  tissues  are  killed.  Some  va- 
rieties, of  course,  are  more  subject  to  this  damage  than 
others,  and  in  northern  regions  a  distinct  variation  of 
hardiness  among  different  varieties  is  well  recognized. 
The  Russian  apples,  so  widely  recommended  a  few 
years  ago  on  account  of  their  superior  hardiness,  are, 
as  a  class,  conspicuous  for  their  ability  to  withstand 
this  sort  of  damage. 

There  are  no  very  certain  means  of  preventing  win- 
terkilling of  this  kind.  Anything  which  can  be  done 
to  prevent  the  ground  from  freezing  deeply  and  for 
a  long  period  will  give  the  best  possible  protection. 
Heavy  cover  crops  which  hold  the  snow  and  protect 
the  soil  from  freezing  are  especially  valuable.  It  has 
usually  been  said  that  pains  should  be  taken  to  have 
the  wood  ripen  up  as  early  in  the  fall  as  possible  as  a 
means  of  guarding  against  winterkilling.  This  theory 
has  unquestionably  been  overworked. 

Root  killing  is  doubtless  the  most  serious  form  of 
winter  damage  suffered  by  apple  trees  in  northwestern 
localities.  The  great  freeze  of  February,  1899,  which 
killed  hundreds  of  thousands  of  trees  in  the  north- 
western states,  accomplished  this  destruction  chiefly 
by  root  killing.  The  ground  was  bare  of  snow  at  the 
time  and  the  cold  was  very  intense.  When  it  is  con- 
sidered that  all  ordinary  orchard  trees  are  grafted  or 
budded  upon  miscellaneous  stocks,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand that  nearly  all  of  these  stocks  might  be  more 
tender  than  the  hardy  varieties  which  had  been  grafted 


l6  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE  ORCHARD 

upon  them.     Thus  the  roots  were  killed  in  many  cases 
where  the  tops  were  able  to  withstand  the  weather. 

In  cases  where  root  killing  is  likely  to  occur  from 
time  to  time — that  is,  in  sections  where  severe  freezing 
is  likely  to  come  when  the  ground  is  not  covered  by 
snow — special  precautions  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
this  sort  of  damage.  The  best  of  these  is  to  propagate 
the  apple  upon  a  very  hardy  stock;  and  probably  the 
best  of  these  stocks  is  the  Cherry  crab  (Pirus 
baccata).  Unfortunately  these  stocks  are  available 
only  in  small  quantities  and  at  comparatively  high 
prices.  Trees  propagated  on  these  roots  cannot  be 
bought  in  any  ordinary  nursery.  The  next  best  pre- 
ventive of  root  killing,  and  the  one  easiest  to  adopt, 
is  the  cover  crop.  A  good  heavy  cover  of  clover, 
alfalfa,  or  vetch  gives  the  ground  some  protection  in 
itself  and  helps  to  hold  whatever  snow  may  fall. 


V 

STARTING  THE  ORCHARD 

A  MATTER  of  prime  importance  in  starting  an  apple 
orchard  is  to  begin  with  good  trees.  Everybody  seems 
to  know  what  constitutes  a  good  horse,  a  good  pair  of 
boots,  or  a  well-made  suit  of  clothes,  but  very  few 
people  appear  to  have  the  necessary  basis  for  judging 
the  value  of  nursery  stock.  It  is  altogether  amusing 
to  see  a  file  of  ordinary  customers  select  nursery  trees 
for  themselves  in  nurseries  where  such  direct  purchase 
is  possible.  Very  often  large  trees  are  selected  with- 
out regard  to  the  roots,  apparently  with  the  idea  that 
the  bigger  the  top  the  better  the  tree.  Even  when 
more  regard  is  paid  to  the  proper  balance  of  branches 
with  the  root  system  the  principal  idea  still  seems  to  be 
to  get  the  biggest  trees.  The  more  such  a  customer 
can  get  for  the  money  the  better  he  seems  satisfied. 
Even  when  these  crude  errors  are  avoided  others 
almost  as  bad  are  fallen  into.  Yet  this  matter  is  a 
very  important  one.  It  is  just  as  desirable  to  have 
good  nursery  trees  as  to  have  good  seed,  and  every 
farmer  considers  this  one  of  the  first  requirements  in 
agriculture.  There  is  as  much  difference  between 
good  trees  and  poor  ones  as  between  good  coffee  and 
chicory  mixture.  On  what,  then,  should  a  man  base 
his  judgment? 

A   GOOD   NURSERY   TREE 

First  of  all,  the  trees  should  be  free  from  insects  and 
disease.  Nowadays  nursery  stock  is  nearly  all  liable 

17 


l8  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

to  official  inspection,  and  this  inspection  professes  to 
discover  all  trees  infested  with  obnoxious  insects  or 
fungous  diseases  and  to  throw  them  out  of  the  mar- 
ket. A  great  deal  has  been  accomplished  by  this  sys- 
tem of  inspection,  although  it  must  be  said  that  in 
some  places  it  is  less  effective  than  in  others,  and  even 
at  its  best  it  cannot  furnish  an  absolute  guarantee  of 
immunity.  The  man  who  buys  the  trees  should  him- 
self inspect  them  and  he  ought  to  be  sure  that  he  is 
able  to  recognize  the  more  important  noxious  in- 
sects and  fungous  disease  likely  to  be  transmitted  in 
nursery  stock. 

In  the  second  place  a  tree  should  be  well  grown. 
It  should  be  clean  and  straight,  with  a  well-formed 
head.  Of  course  the  size  and  form  of  the  head  de- 
pend greatly  on  the  variety  to  which  the  tree  belongs. 
Some  varieties  of  apples  make  better  heads  than 
others.  One  should  not  expect  Longfield  to  have  as 
well-formed  heads  ^as  Ben  Davis  or  Mclntosh.  The 
fact  that  tree  buyers  persist  in  laying  too  much  stress 
on  this  point  has  had  a  great  influence  in  driving  out 
of  the  market  many  good  varieties  of  apples  simply 
because  they  do  not  naturally  form  comely  tops  in  the 
nursery.  While  the  buyer  will  always  seek  to  secure 
the  cleanest  and  best- formed  trees,  he  will  not  enforce 
this  rule  at  the  expense  of  good  varieties. 

A  tree  should  be  not  only  well  grown,  but  well  pre- 
served. Most  of  our  nursery  stock,  especially  fruit 
trees,  is  now  dug  in  the  fall  and  sold  in  the  spring. 
During  the  winter  it  is  kept  in  storage.  The  idea 
of  keeping  nursery  trees  in  cold  storage,  as  eggs  and 
apples  are  kept,  appeals  to  most  men  as  a  dangerous 
practice.  It  is  not  necessarily  so,  however.  If  trees 
are  well  managed  in  storehouses  they  do  not  lose  any 


STARTING  THE   ORCHARD  IQ 

part  of  their  vitality.  Yet  if  they  are  mismanaged,  it 
is  always  to  their  detriment.  If  the  bark  looks  black 
and  shriveled,  or  if  it  is  dry  and  hard,  or  if  it  is  soft 
and  loose,  peeling  off  readily  when  touched,  then  the 
tree  has  not  been  well  kept.  It  is  likely  to  be  in  bad 
condition  and  the  chances  are  it  will  not  grow. 

There  is  sometimes  a  controversy  broached  regard- 
ing the  comparative  merits  of  northern  and  southern 
grown  nursery  trees.  So  far  as  we  are  concerned 
this  is  also  involved  with  the  question  as  to  whether 
or  not  it  is  best  to  plant  trees  grown  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood.  There  is  a  feeling  in  many  quarters 
that  northern  grown  nursery  trees  are  more  hardy, 
and  in  all  cases  this  is  supplemented  by  the  feeling  that 
home-grown  trees  are  likely  to  be  more  successful 
through  being  already  acclimated.  Long  observation 
and  experiment  have  convinced  me  that  these  points 
are  usually  very  much  overdrawn.  There  may  be 
something  in  them  at  times,  but  I  have  really  never 
been  able  to  see  it,  although  the  matter  has  been  fre- 
quently tested  under  my  observation.  If  the  tree  is 
sound,  well  grown,  free  from  disease,  well  kept 
and  otherwise  in  good  physical  condition,  it  is  a  safe 
tree  to  plant.  Any  inquiries  as  to  its  place  of  origin 
are  hardly  worth  while.  Indeed,  such  inquiries  are 
quite  likely  to  be  futile,  because  it  is  nearly  always  im- 
possible to  ascertain  where  a  certain  tree  has  actually 
been  grown.  Very  few  nurserymen  grow  all  the  trees 
they  sell.  They  depend  on  buying  what  they  need  in 
whatever  market  is  most  advantageous.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  matter  of  considerable  satisfaction  to  feel  that 
we  do  not  need  to  trace  the  history  of  every  tree,  but 
that  we  may  plant  with  confidence  any  nursery  stock 
which  conforms  to  the  simple  physical  tests  herewith 


2O  THE  AMELICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

outlined.    Such  tests  every  man  can  make  with  his  own 
hands  and  eyes. 

HOW  TO  GET  TREES 

When  a  man  starts  into  orchard  planting  he  has  to 
have  trees.  These  he  can  either  propagate  for  him- 
self or  buy  from  a  nursery.  When  large  commercial 
orchards  are  projected  it  is  possibly  best  to  undertake 
the  propagation  of  the  necessary  nursery  stock  on  the 
premises,  providing  the  delay  thereby  incurred  is  not 
too  serious  an  objection.  The  advantage  of  propa- 
gating at  home  is  not  so  much  that  the  trees  are  se- 
cured more  cheaply,  though  there  is  something  in  that, 
as  it  is  that  they  may  be  had  when  wanted  and  that 
their  history  is  always  known.  The  planter  secures 
varieties  which  are  true  to  name.  They  are  the  kinds 
he  has  chosen.  They  are  propagated  from  reliable 
stock.  He  knows  the  entire  history  of  every  tree,  and 
this  is  often  of  importance.  There  is  a  considerable 
advantage,  too,  in  having  trees  at  hand  at  planting 
time.  There  are  no  delays  in  shipping,  no  damage 
to  trees  in  storage,  and  the  stock  is  on  hand  when  the 
ground  is  ready,  the  holes  dug,  and  the  men  prepared 
to  plant. 

Now  that  the  San  Jose  scale  has  come  to  be  a  fac- 
tor in  orchard  planting  in  certain  districts,  there  is 
an  added  advantage  in  having  home-grown  trees. 
Nursery  stock  bought  from  a  grower  in  another 
neighborhood  or  state  often  requires  fumigation. 
Either  one  must  run  the  risks  of  fumigation  or  else 
the  danger  of  infection  from  the  scale.  Both  these 
risks  may  usually  be  avoided  by  home  propagation. 


STARTING  THE   ORCHARD  21 

In  some  quarters  there  is  a  well-founded  prejudice 
— I  hardly  dare  to  call  it  more — in  favor  of  tree- 
breeding  by  the  selection  of  scions  from  bearing  trees 
of  special  individual  excellence.  It  is  easy  to  observe 
that  in  a  block  of  apple  trees  of  one  variety,  say,  Mc- 
Intosh  or  Greening  or  Winesap,  there  are  individual 
trees  which  bear  more  and  better  fruit  than  their 
neighbors.  In  so  far  as  this  is  not  due  to  the  influence 
of  the  stock,  but  to  the  individuality  of  the  tree  itself, 
it  can  presumably  be  reproduced  by  grafting.  From 
such  trees  accordingly  do  the  modern  apple  growers 
of  the  advanced  school  prefer  to  select  their  scions. 
The  -present  writer  warmly  shares  the  prejudice  in 
favor  of  this  practice,  but  admits  that  it  rests  on  a 
plausible  theory  rather  than  on  an  established  prin- 
ciple. 

When  the  nursery  stock  is  grown  on  the  place  the 
strongest  and  best  trees  may  be  selected,  a  large 
number  of  inferior  specimens  being  discarded.  One 
is  apt  to  get,  therefore,  a  generally  higher  grade  of 
stock,  providing  he  is  willing  to  stand  a  certain 
amount  of  loss  in  the  nursery,  when  he  plants  from 
his  own  nursery  rows. 

Nevertheless  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  it  is 
more  practicable  to  secure  trees  from  some  nursery- 
man than  it  is  to  grow  them  at  home.  This  is  em- 
phatically true  if  the  number  to  be  planted  is  com- 
paratively small,  and  if  the  planter  is  not  an  expert 
propagator.  It  is  the  nurseryman's  business  to  propa- 
gate trees,  and  he  can  do  it  better  and  more  cheaply 
than  the  unpracticed  fruit  grower.  The  suspicion  usu- 
ally attached  to  nursery-grown  trees  is  almost  always 
unfounded.  The  unsophisticated  farmer  has  been  ha- 
bitually gulled  by  the  fruit  tree  agents  from  the  earliest 


22  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

times,  but  the  very  large  majority  of  nurserymen  are 
honest  and  reliable.  They  grow  good  trees  as  nearly 
true  to  name  as  careful  foresight  can  insure,  and  they 
sell  them  at  reasonable  prices.  The  planter  should 
simply  be  sure  that  the  nurseryman  with  whom  he 
deals  is  a  good  reliable  business  man.  He  should 
take  the  same  precautions  which  he  would  in  buying 
a  barrel  of  sugar,  a  dairy  cow  or  a  carload  of  fencing 
wire.  The  itinerant  fruit  tree  agent  should  never  be 
patronized,  of  course,  except  to  get  rid  of  him — never 
with  the  expectation  of  getting  any  useful  trees. 

The  prices  of  nursery  stock  are  so  low,  and  the 
character  of  the  goods  furnished  generally  so  high, 
that  the  orchard .  planter  can  hardly  consider  this  one 
of  his  serious  expenses.  Above  all  other  things  he 
should  not  practice  a  false  economy  in  this  part  of 
the  project.  The  best  trees  should  be  bought  from 
the  most  reliable  man  in  the  market.  A  saving  of 
$2  or  $3  in  the  price  of  nursery  stock  may  be  lost  a 
hundred  times  over  before  the  first  crop  is  gathered. 


METHODS  OF  PROPAGATION 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  at  different  times  and 
in  different  parts  of  the  country  about  methods  of 
propagation.  There  has  been  a  long  argument  over 
the  respective  merits  of  grafting  and  budding  trees ; 
and  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  so-called 
"whole-root"  grafting  as  compared  with  the  "piece- 
root"  grafting  have  been  hotly  debated  in  many  a 
horticultural  gathering.  On  this  point  the  experience 
of  planters  is  quite  strongly  agreed.  The  net  result 
may  be  stated  as  follows:  The  various  methods  of 


STARTING  THE   ORCHARD  23 

propagation  have  their  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages in  the  hands  of  a  nurseryman.  Some  are  more 
economical  for  him  because  they  give  quicker  or  surer 
results,  or  because  they  are  less  expensive.  But  for 
the  fruit  grower  there  is  absolutely  no  advantage  of 
one  method  over  another.  Grafted  trees  will  live  as 
long  and  thrive  as  well  as  budded  trees,  and  those 
grown  on  piece-roots  are  just  as  good  as  those  grown 
on  whole-roots.  It  is  still  a  question  of  getting  sound, 
thrifty  trees.  That  is  the  only  point  of  interest  to  the 
orchardist.  Such  a  great  amount  of  testimony  has 
been  collected  in  recent  years  on  this  point  that  the 
truth  may  be  stated  with  considerable  positiveness. 

At  what  age  should  a  tree  be  planted  ?  Some  plant- 
ers prefer  one-year-old  stock,  and  when  it  is  large 
and  well  grown  it  is  almost,  or  quite  as  good,  as  two- 
year-old  stock.  For  the  most  part,  however,  two- 
year-old  stock  is  to  be  recommended  for  apples. 
Anything  older  than  two  years  is  strictly  undesirable. 


FALL  VS.  SPRING  PLANTING 

The  question  is  often  asked  as  to  whether  fall  or 
spring  planting  is  to  be  preferred.  The  answer  is 
that  there  is  not  much  choice  and  that  sometimes 
one  season  will  prove  more  favorable,  while  at  other 
times  the  other  season  is  better.  There  are  certain 
general  advantages  in  fall  planting.  There  is  more 
time  for  the  work  then  than  during  the  spring  rush; 
it  is  easier  to  buy  nursery  stock  and  get  the  varieties 
of  one's  selection;  the  trees  if  properly  planted  in 
good  soil  will  make  some  root  growth  and  will  be- 
come, to  a  considerable  degree,  established  before  the 


24  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

opening  of  spring,  so  they  start  in  the  year  with  a 
certain  advantage  over  the  spring-planted  trees. 

On  the  other  hand  there  are  some  drawbacks  to 
fall  planting.  In  order  to  sell  trees  betimes  in  the 
fall  nurserymen  sometimes  dig  them  prematurely.  If 
the  soil  is  not  well  drained,  or  if  other  conditions  are 
unfavorable,  the  trees  may  receive  serious  damage 
during  the  winter.  They  may  also  be  injured  by 
mice.  On  the  whole,  the  case  seems  to  stand  like 
this:  When  all  conditions  are  favorable — trees  good, 
soil  good,  drainage  perfect,  planting  well  done — then 
fall  setting  will  be  successful  and  is  to  be  preferred. 
Lacking  any  of  these  conditions,  spring  planting  is 
safer. 

DISTANCES  FOR  PLANTING 

In  the  principal  apple-growing  districts  there  is  a 
fairly  unanimous  agreement  that  35  feet  apart  each 
way  is  the  proper  spacing  for  standard  apple  trees  in 
orchards.  On  fertile  lands  in  western  New  York 
40x40  feet  is  often  recommended ;  while  in  a  few  sec- 
tions, notably  in  California,  closer  planting  is  prac- 
ticed. It  may  be  said  positively  that  the  present  tend- 
ency is  toward  closer  planting.  This  is  coupled 
everywhere  with  a  tendency  toward  closer  pruning 
and  the  formation  of  smaller  headed  trees.  This 
tendency  in  turn  is  strongly  promoted  by  the  spread 
of  the  San  Jose  scale  and  of  other  noxious  insects 
and  diseases  which  require  very  thorough  spraying. 
Smaller  trees  are  more  easily  sprayed,  and  may  be 
more  closely  planted. 

If  one  is  to  follow  the  conventional  methods  of 
orchard  management,  therefore,  he  will  plant  stand- 
ard apple  trees  35x35  feet.  He  may  make  this 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  25 

40x40  feet  if  he  plants  large  growing  varieties,  like 
Spy,  on  rich  land.  On  the  other  hand  if  he  has  clear 
and  definite  plans  for  repressive  pruning  he  may  plant 
closer.  This  may  mean  as  close  as  20x20  feet  with 
small  growing  sorts,  like  Wealthy  and  Duchess.  But 
such  close  planting  must  not  be  undertaken  except 
by  the  man  who  has  the  knowledge  and  the  courage 
to  carry  out  a  rigorous  system  of  management  all 
along  the  line. 

PLANTING  TABLES 

The  following  table  will  show  the  number  of  trees 
to  the  acre  planted  at  various  distances: 


9f1 
9 
9 
9 
9 
9 
9 
9 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
12 
12 
12 
12 
12 

,.  x 
x 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

9f 
10 

11 

12 
14 
15 
18 
20 
10 
12 
15 
18 
20 
24 
30 
36 
42 
45 
48 
54 
60 
12 
15 
18 
20 
24 

Trees 
Per  Acre 

t.  .   .      537 

12  f 
12 
12 
12 
12 
12 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
15 
18 
18 
18 
18 
18 
18 
18 
18 
18 
20 

t.  x 

"  X 
"  X 
"  X 
"  X 

"  x 

"  X 
"  X 

4  X 
'  X 
'  X 

1  x 

'  X 

'  X 
'  X 
'  X 

'  x 
'  x 

4  X 
'  X 
'  X 
'  X 

1  x 
'  x 
4  x 
1  x 

30  f 
36 
42 
48 
54 
60 
15 
18 
20 
24 
30 
36 
42 
48 
54 
60 
18 
20 
24 
30 
36 
42 
48 
54 
60 
20 

Trees 
Per  Acre 

t           121 

484 
440 

'  100 

1          86 

403 

75 

345 

'         67 

322 

'  .  .  .     60 

268 

'  .  .  .  .   193 

242 

'  161 

435 

145 

363 

121 

290 
242 

96 

80 

217 

69 

181 

60 

145 

1         53 

121 

'  .  .       48 

103 

'  .  .  .    134 

96 

'  121 

90 

1  100 

80 

'  80 

...     72 

67 

302 

'         57 

242 

1  50 

201 

'  44 

181 

'  40 

.  151 

.108 

STARTING  THE   ORCHARD 


70  f 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
20 
24 
24 
24 
24 
24 
24 
24 
30 
30 
30 
30 
30 
30 
35 
36 
36 
36 
36 
36 
38 
38 

t.  x  24  f 
x  30 
x  36 
x  42 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  24 
x  30 
x  36 
x  42 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  30 
x  36 
x  42 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  35 
x  36 
x  42 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  38 
x  40 

Trees 
Per  Acre 

t  90 

38  f1 
38 
38 
38 
38 
40 
40 
40 
40 
40 
40 
42 
42 
42 
42 
48 
48 
48 
50 
50 
50 
54 
54 
60 
70 
80 
90 
100 

;.  x  42  f 
x  48 
x  50 
x  54 
x  60 
x  40 
x  42 
x  48 
x  50 
x  54 
x  60 
x  42 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  48 
x  54 
x  60 
x  50 
x  54 
x  60 
x  54 
x  60 
x  60 
x  70 
x  80 
x  90 
x  100 

Trees 
Per  Acre 

t.  27 

72 

'  23 

60 

'  22 

51 

'          21 

45 

'  .  .  .      19 

40 

1  27 

36 

'  25 

....   75 

4  22 

....   60 

•  21 

50 

1  20 

43 

'  18 

37 

1  24 

33 

*  21 

30 

'  .  .       19 

48 

'  ..   .  .   17 

40 

•  18 

34 

1  16 

....     30 

1  15 

26 

1  17 

24 

1  16 

35 

•  14 

33 

'  14 

28 

'  13 

25 

•  12 

22 

'          8 

20 

6 

30 

'  .  .   ..   5 

28 

4 

DOUBLE  PLANTING 

When  an  orchard  is  planted  35x35  or  40x40  feet, 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  waste  space  left  during  the 
early  years  of  its  growth.  For  15  to  20  years  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  ground  remains  practically  un- 
occupied and  useless.  Some  crops  are  occasionally 
raised  between  the  trees  during  the  earliest  years, 
but  experience  has  generally  been  against  this  prac- 
tice. On  the  other  hand  when  the  trees  have  actually 
filled  up  the  space  allotted  to  them,  and  when  we  say 
the  ground  is  fully  occupied,  there  is,  in  fact,  still 
another  waste. 


28  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

This  comes  from  the  fact  that  the  bearing  area  of 
the  tree  has  been  simply  moved  out  with  the  growth 
of  the  branches,  leaving  the  space  next  each  tree 
trunk  unproductive.  Apples  never  grow  in  the 
center  of  the  tree.  There  is  only  a  comparatively 
thin  rim  around  the  periphery  where  blossoms  open 
and  fruit  matures.  Thus,  while  we  waste  space  out- 
side of  the  tree  during  the  early  years  of  the  orchard, 
we  waste  space  inside  the  tree  when  the  orchard 
grows  old. 

This  waste  often  amounts  to  50  per  cent  of  the  land, 
sometimes  more.  On  land  worth  $50  to  $100  an  acre 
(and  there  are  large  areas  of  land  worth  $100  an  acre 
now  growing  apples)  such  an  amount  of  unproductive 
soil  is  a  serious  consideration.  There  are  two  possi- 
ble remedies  for  this  condition  of  things.  The  first 
is  pruning;  the  second  interplanting. 

If  we  had  a  system  of  pruning  which  gave  us  prac- 
tical control  of  our  apple  trees,  we  might  be  able  to 
prevent  their  continuous  and  undue  increase  in  size. 
We  could  thus  keep  them  within  bounds.  Trees 
might  be  planted  20  feet  apart,  say,  and  not  allowed  to 
overpass  the  limits  set  upon  them.  It  is  perfectly 
evident,  however,  that  we  have  not  yet  worked  out  a 
system  of  pruning  which  will  compass  this  end.  That 
is  one  of  the  great  problems  resting  with  the  future 
of  American  pomology.  We  shall  certainly  have  to 
solve  this  problem  before  we  can  pretend  to  have  a 
perfect  system  of  fruit-growing;  but  this  solution 
appears  to  be  still  further  away  from  us  than  the  one 
next  to  be  mentioned. 

Interplanting,  or  the  use  of  "fillers,"  has  been  con- 
siderably discussed  during  the  past  decade  or  two, 
and  has  been  occasionally  tried.  For  the  most  part 


STARTING  THE  ORCHARD  2$ 

the  experiments  made  with  mixed  or  double  plant- 
ing have  been  unsuccessful,  or  at  least  unsatisfactory; 
and  there  is  at  present  in  the  general  horticultural 
mind  an  undoubted  and  fairly  founded  prejudice 
against  it.  The  waste  of  land,  however,  incident  up- 
on wide  planting  is  so  positive  and  obvious  a  hard- 
ship that  many  men  are  willing  to  face  the  prejudice 
and  the  bad  results  of  earlier  experiments  in  order 
possibly  to  find  some  improvement  for  this  condition. 

The  general  object  of  mixed  planting  or  interplant- 
ing  is  to  increase  the  revenue  of  the  orchard  during 
its  early  years.  Whatever  method  of  procedure, 
therefore,  will  give  the  quickest  and  largest  returns 
without  damage  to  the  permanent  apple  orchard  is 
the  method  to  be  pursued.  And  if  double  planting  is 
to  be  practiced  at  all,  the  best  method  of  mixing  dif- 
ferent trees  in  the  orchard  comes  to  be  an  interesting 
practical  problem. 

Before  going  further  with  this  discussion,  it  seems 
necessary  to  consider  in  detail  'the  objections  usually 
made  to  double  planting  and  the  arguments  common- 
ly presented  in  favor  of  it. 

The  first  and  commonest  objection  is  that  the  fillers 
are  never  cut  out  when  they  ought  to  be.  In  many 
cases  fruit-growers  seem  to  be  ignorant  of  the  time 
when  the  fillers  should  be  removed.  They  do  not  ap- 
preciate that  any  damage  is  threatened  from  them 
until  long  after  the  damage  has  occurred.  In  most 
cases,  however,  the  neglect  is  chargeable  to  the  dis- 
inclination of  the  fruit-grower  to  cut  out  temporary 
trees  which  are  giving  him  some  regular  income.  It 
has  been  repeatedly  laid  down  as  a  rule  that  fruit- 
growers will  not  do  this.  A  good  Nova  Scotia  fruit- 


3O  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE  ORCHARD 

grower  summed  up  the  matter  thus :  "Cut  out  the 
fillers  ?  Yes !  Cut  oft'  your  head !" 

In  answer  to  this  objection  it  should  be  said  that  if 
a  man  is  fairly  forewarned  of  the  danger  of  leaving 
fillers  too  long  in  his  orchard,  and  if  he  is  a  man  of 
moderate  intelligence,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  realize 
that  what  he  is  after  is  the  maximum  profit  from  his 
orchard;  and  if  he  has  any  way  of  knowing  when  the 
profit  from  the  fillers  begins  to  be  gathered  at  a  great- 
er expense  from  the  permanent  trees,  then  he  should 
willingly  destroy  the  less  for  the  greater  income.  A 
man  ought  to  have  no  more  compunction  in  cutting 
out  a  tree  from  an  orchard  than  in  cutting  out  a  limb 
at  pruning  time.  In  either  case  he  removes  a  part 
of  his  fruit-bearing  capital  for  the  sake  of  getting 
better  returns  from  the  remainder.  It  is  doubtless  a 
fact  that  the  common  careless  fruit-grower  will  not 
remove  fillers  when  he  ought  to,  and  this  is  sufficient 
reason  why  the  practice  of  double  planting  should  not 
be  indiscriminately  recommended.  It  is  not  any  rea- 
son, however,  why  the  intelligent  fruit-grower — the 
man  who  knows  enough  really  to  look  out  for  his  own 
business — should  not  practice  it. 

The  second  objection  is  urged  against  the  somewhat 
common  method  of  filling  apple  orchards  with  trees 
of  other  species,  especially  stone  fruits,  such  as 
peaches,  apricots,  plums  and  cherries.  The  objection 
is  that  these  different  types  of  fruit  require  differ- 
ent methods  of  culture,  and  that  while  striving 
to  do  what  is  best  for  the  peaches  or  plums,  the 
grower  does  what  is  not  best  for  his  apples. 
This  objection,  of  course,  rests  upon  the  same 
ground  as  the  one  previously  considered;  namely, 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  3! 

that  the  fruit  grower  does  not  have  the  intelli- 
gence or  the  courage  to  do  what  is  for  his  own 
good.  If  a  man  fills  his  apple  orchard  with  tem- 
porary peach  trees,  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
not  give  the  apples  the  best  culture  of  which  he  is 
capable,  and  take  as  a  gratuity  whatever  may  come  to 
him  from  the  peach  trees.  That  is  what  they  are 
there  for. 

Some  sticklers  on  orchard  culture  have  carried  this 
objection  so  far  as  to  say  that  pears  and  early  varieties 
of  apples  should  not  be  used  for  interplanting  in 
standard  orchards  of  commercial  apples.  They  say 
that  pears  and  early  apples  require  peculiar  methods 
of  cultivation.  So  far  as  pears  are  concerned,  this  is 
largely  true,  since  high  fertilization  and  thorough 
working  of.  the  soil  is  likely  to  induce  blight.  So  far 
as  early  apples  are  concerned,  this  distinction  seems 
to  be  rather  finely  drawn.  There  doubtless  are  a  few 
apple  growers  in  America  who  have  arrived  at  that 
refinement  of  practice  which  leads  them  to  apply  one 
method  of  treatment  to  Ben  Davis,  another  to  Grimes' 
Golden  and  another  to  Red  June,  but  these  men  are 
single  examples  among  thousands. 

Nevertheless,  the  objection  to  filling  apple  orchards 
with  other  species  of  fruit,  especially  stone  fruits, 
should  be  given  careful  consideration;  and  in  most 
cases  it  is  probably  better  practice  to  use  apples  for 
fillers  in  apple  orchards,  if  fillers  are  to  be  used  at  all. 

Another  objection  which  has  not  been  commonly 
presented  in  this  connection,  but  which  seems  to  me 
to  have  much  more  practical  weight  than  either  of  the 
others,  is  this — that  the  planting  of  fillers  in  an  or- 
chard interferes  more  or  less  seriously  with  the  neces- 
sary working  of  the  ground,  growing  cover  crops  and 


32  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

spraying.  Room  has  to  be  left  in  the  orchard  for  the 
spraying  outfit  to  pass  readily  about  within  reach  of 
all  sides  of  all  the  trees.  If  a  row  of  fillers  is  placed 
midway  between  two  permanent  rows,  there  is  always 
a  certain  amount  of  land  which  is  thereby  kept  out  of 
cultivation.  If  cultivation  is  a  good  thing — and  it 
certainly  is — then  its  benefits  are  mitigated  by  sd 
much  as  the  cultivated  area  is  reduced.  If  cover 
crops  add  valuable  elements  to  the  soil — and  they  un- 
doubtedly do — then  the  amount  of  these  elements  is 
reduced  in  proportion  as  the  fillers  occupy  space 
otherwise  available  for  clover  or  peas. 

In  answer  to  this  last  objection,  it  may  be  said  that 
inasmuch  as  cultivation,  fertilization  and  growing  of 
cover  crops  are  directed  chiefly  to  the  end  of  fur- 
nishing to  trees  an  adequate  food  supply,  the  inroads 
made  upon  the  stock  of  plant  food  by  the  fillers,  and 
by  the  reduction  in  cultivation  and  cover  crops,  may 
be  largely  made  good  by  the  application  of  an  extra 
amount  of  fertilizer.  It  is,  of  course,  fully  recognized 
that  when  fillers  are  planted  in  an  orchard,  much 
more  liberal  fertilization  must  be  given.  The  tem- 
porary trees  must  not  be  allowed  to  feed  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  permanent  ones. 

Considering  fully  the  arguments  on  both  sides  of 
the  question,  and  entirely  without  prejudice,  I  feel 
bound  to  believe  that  the  practice  of  interplanting  in 
apple  orchards  is  desirable  for  fruit  growers  who 
have  the  intelligence  to  understand  their  own  business 
and  the  courage  to  attend  to  it.  I  may  add,  further- 
more, that  I  have  sufficient  faith  in  the  modern  up- 
to-date  fruit  growers  to  believe  that  a  great  many 
fulfill  these  requirements.  Another  argument  for  the 
feasibility  of  double  planting  is  that  this  system  has 


STARTING  THE   ORCHARD  33 

been  carried  out  with  marked  success  by  various 
practical  fruit  growers.  If,  then,  mixed  planting  is 
to  be  undertaken  in  certain  cases,  we  come  back  to  the 
important  question  as  to  what  methods  are  most  likely 
to  give  success. 

.We  have  already  briefly  considered  the  question  as 
to  whether  fillers  should  be  of  the  same  species  as  the 
permanent  trees.  It  is  doubtless  safer  to  have  them 
so.  There  are  certain  varieties  which  come  early 
into  bearing,  and  some  of  these  are  comparatively 
small  trees  and  may  be  put  in  the  temporary  rows. 
Missouri  Pippin  and  Winesap  are  generally  recom- 
mended for  the  West;  in  the  East  experience  has  not 
settled  upon  any  particular  varieties  except  Wealthy. 
Fameuse  fills  the  requirements  to  a  certain  extent 
where  it  is  a  market  variety.  In  Nova  Scotia  I  find 
that  Ben  Davis  is  being  considerably  used  for  this 
purpose,  which  will  certainly  be  a  surprise  to  the  men 
in  the  "land  of  the  big  red  apple."  In  the  northern 
states  and  certain  portions  of  Canada,  Wealthy  has 
been  generally  recommended;  and  persons  who  are 
inclined  to  grow  Wagener  will  find  that  tree  suitable 
to  the  purpose  in  hand. 

In  many  cases  it  seems  best  to  have  the  temporary 
trees  of  the  same  variety  as  the  permanent  ones — that 
is,  if  one  is  planting  a  permanent  orchard  of  Ben 
Davis  with  trees  40  feet  apart,  he  may  put  in  an  extra 
row  of  Ben  Davis  half  way  between.  He  will  thus 
have  during  the  first  few  years  a  Ben  Davis  orchard 
with  trees  20  feet  apart. 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  presentation  of  the  arguments 
above  that  the  writer  does  not  believe  it  altogether  an 
impossible  practice  to  use  stone  fruits  for  fillers  in  an 
apple  orchard.  While  the  peach  has  doubtless  been 


STARTING  THE   ORCHARD 


35., 


oftenest  used  and  recommended  for  this  purpose, 
plums  and  sour  cherries  would  probably  answer  the 
requirements  of  the  case  better.  They  are  slower 
growers,  make  smaller  heads,  and  are  much  less  likely 
to  overtop  the  permanent  apple  trees.  If,  as  has  al- 
ready been  said,  the  grower  will  concentrate  his  best 
efforts  in  behalf  of  the  permanent  apple  trees  and 
will  make  his  cultivation  of  plums  or  cherries  a  strictly 
secondary  matter,  there  is  no  reason  why^these  crops 
should  in  any  way  work  against  the  best  development 
of  the  main  crop.  The  practice  usually  recommended 
as  being  the  very  best  for  apples  comes  near  enough 
to  satisfying  the  requirements  of  the  plum  trees,  at 
least  near  enough  so  that  good  returns  may  be  ex- 
pected from  fillers  of  this  sort. 

Whatever  species  and  varieties  are  selected  for  mix- 
ing, the  whole  treatment  given  the  orchard  from  the 
very  first  must  favor  the  permanent  trees.  These 
must  be  urged  to  dominate  the  fillers.  In  some  cases, 
especially  when  the  fillers  are  apple  trees,  and  still 
more  especially  when  they  are  of  the  same  variety  as 
the  permanent  trees,  it  is  good  practice  to  set  the  main 
orchard  first,  putting  in  the  fillers  one  or  two  years 
later.  This  gives  the  permanent  trees  a  start.  In 
any  case,  some  system  of  repressive  pruning  is  to  be 
recommended  for  the  fillers,  in  order  to  keep  them 
strictly  under  control,  and  to  prevent  any  one  of  them 
overtopping  a  neighboring  tree  of  the  elect. 

The  arrangement  of  an  orchard  will  usually  be 
more  or  less  affected  by  the  project  of  using  fillers 
between  the  permanent  trees.  Sometimes  it  is  found 
best  to  adopt  the  old-fashioned  quincunx  system.  This 
is  perhaps  especially  suited  tc  those  cases  in  which 


36  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

apples  are  used  for  fillers  between  apples.  The  per- 
manent trees  are  put  where  they  are  to  stand,  say  40 
feet  apart,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  square,  equidistant 
from  four  of  these  trees,  a  temporary  tree  is  placed. 
This  increases  the  number  of  trees  to  an  acre  by  ex- 
actly 50  per  cent. 

When  plums  or  cherries  or  dwarf  pears  are  used 
for  fillers,  a  much  larger  number  can  be  put  in  to 
advantage.  Perhaps  the  best  way  then  is  to 
plant  the  permanent  trees  in  rectangles,  say  24  by  32 
feet,  then  an  entire  row  of  fillers  can  be  run  through 
the  wide  spaces,  making  the  rows  16  feet  apart  one 
way  and  24  feet  the  other.  The  fillers  would  then  be 
planted  12  feet  apart  in  the  row,  and  there  would  be 
one  and  one-half  times  as  many  of  them  as  permanent 
trees.  In  case  a  still  heavier  interplanting  seems  de- 
sirable, the  most  practical  way  would  be  to  set  the 
permanent  trees  in  squares  once  more,  then  to  run 
temporary  rows  half  way  between  them  in  both  di- 
rections. If  the  permanent  trees  are  40  feet  apart 
then  fillers  are  put  in  half  way  between,  in  both  di- 
rections, making  the  entire  orchard  stand,  as  origi- 
nally planted,  with  its  trees  20  feet  apart.  In  this 
case  there  are  just  three  times  as  many  fillers  as  there 
are  permanent  trees,  and  the  number  of  trees  in  the 
original  orchard  is  increased  by  300  per  cent. 

Land  is  sometimes  economized  in  a  slightly  different 
way,  namely,  by  interplanting  with  small  fruits.  The 
writer  has  seen  gooseberries  and  currants  rather  suc- 
cessfully used  in  this  way.  They  are  worth  trying. 
Raspberries  and  blackberries  are  also  planted  occa- 
sionally, but  their  use  is  attended  with  considerably 
greater  difficulties.  They  should  be  interplanted  be- 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  37 

tween  orchard  trees  only  under  circumstances  of  great 
urgency. 

Strawberries  are  sometimes  grown  between  tree 
rows,  especially  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  after 
the  orchard  is  put  out.  There  is  no  special  objection 
to  them.  They  are  not  likely  to  cause  any  damage 
to  the  orchard.  At  the  same  time  the  strawberry 
plants  are  very  easy  to  get  rid  of  when  the  ground 
is  needed  for  the  trees;  and,  in  fact,  the  diminishing 
size  of  the  strawberries  will  very  soon  lead  to  their 
removal.  For  this  reason  strawberries  are  to  be  con- 
sidered a  safe  crop  in  young  orchards. 

Elsewhere  mention  is  made  of  the  practice  of  grow- 
ing various  garden  and  farm  crops  between  the  trees 
of  a  young  orchard.  The  fundamental  principle  is 
that  it  is  bad  management  ever  to  grow  any  crop 
which,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  whatever  degree,  is  a 
detriment  to  the  trees  which  are  to  form  the  perma- 
nent plantation. 

Since  the  prime  object  of  double  planting  is  econ- 
omy of  land,  and  since,  with  this  oj>ject  in  view,  the 
trees  are  set .  unusually  close  together,  it  follows  that 
considerable  repressive  pruning  is  likely  to  be  needed. 
Pruning  has  already  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
means  of  economizing  land;  and  doubtless  the  most 
satisfactory  system  of  orchard  management  would 
combine  double  planting  with  repressive  pruning.  The 
fillers  must  always  be  kept  headed  back  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  do  not  interfere  with  the  proper  de- 
velopment of  the  permanent  trees,  and  if  this  heading 
back  is  kept  up  in  such  timely  and  foresighted  man- 
ner as  to  keep  the  fillers  fully  under  control,  the  time 
of  their  removal  may  be  considerably  postponed. 


40  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

5.  The  contention  that  stub  root  pruning  causes 
the  tree  to  form  a  deeper  or  better  root  system  has  not 
been  proved. 

6.  Severe  cutting  back  of  roots  and  tops  appears 
to  be  most  advantageous  with  peaches,  Japanese  plums 
and  pears  of  the  Kieffer  type.     It  is  more  successful 
in  the  South  than  in  the  North.     It  is  better  on  light, 
warm,  not  too  dry  soils  than  on  heavy  clay  or  dry 
sand. 

The  judgment  of  the  present  writer  may  be  summed 
up,  therefore,  by  saying  that  it  is  best  to  prune  nur- 
sery apple  trees  thoroughly,  even  severely,  just  before 
planting.  Not  only  should  all  straggling  and  broken 
roots  be  cut  off,  but  all  the  main  roots  should  be  cut 
back  within  3  or  4  inches  of  the  trunk.  Such  trees 
are  much  easier  to  handle  than  those  differently 
treated;  they  can  be  more  rapidly  planted,  and  the 
work  would  be  more  thoroughly  done.  At  the  same 
time  the  tops  will  be  cut  back  at  the  point  where  the 
head  is  to  be  formed.  If  the  heads  have  already 
been  formed  in  the  nursery  at  a  height  satisfactory  to 
the  fruit  grower  the  best  plan  will  be  to  shorten  all 
branches  to  stubs  of  2  or  3  inches  long,  taking  some 
pains  to  see  that  these  are  not  too  thickly  placed.  If  a 
suitable  head  has  not  been  formed  in  the  nursery,  or 
if,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  head  has  been  formed  too 
high,  the  entire  top  should  be  cut  off.  Even  two-year- 
old  trees  can  be  thus  cut  back  to  bare  stumps  of  12,  18 
or  20  inches  tall,  from  which  satisfactory  growth  will 
be  secured  the  first  year  after  planting  in  the  orchard. 
This  matter  is  more  fully  discussed  under  pruning. 

PLANTING    OUT   THE    TREES 

To  the  novice  the  planting  of  a  tree  is  something 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  4! 

wonderful.  There  are  mysteries  connected  with  it. 
He  approaches  the  work  with  fear  and  doubting,  and 
with  the  feeling  that  failure  lies  much  nearer  than 
success.  The  old  orchardist  has  learned  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  kill  a  good  tree.  If  anything  like 
reasonable  attention  is  paid  to  it,  it  is  sure  to  thrive. 
Trees  seem  to  grow  with  a  very  free  will  for  an  ex- 
perienced tree  planter.  The  inexperience  of  the 
novice  shows  in  every  movement.  He  takes  much 
more  time  and  pains  in  planting  his  trees  than  the  ex- 
pert does,  though  it  seems  doubtful  if  he  gets  any 
better  result.  When  large  orchards  are  to  be  planted 
the  expense  of  setting  the  trees  is  a  considerable  item. 
The  practical  orchardist,  therefore,  economizes  at  this 
point,  but  never  in  such  a  way  as  to  lose  money  by  it. 
In  planting  a  large  number  of  trees  economy  of  time 
demands  an  organization  of  the  work  and  a  clear 
fore-established  plan  for  conducting  the  operations. 
The  work  must  be  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  it  can 
be  done  expeditiously  and  at  the  same  time  properly. 

Having  decided  on  the  scheme  of  planting  to  be 
adopted,  there  are  various  ways  of  carrying  out  the 
planting  plan.  The  man  who  delights  in  clean, 
straight  rows  is  apt  -to  take  considerable  pains  in  laying 
off  the  field.  Sometimes  a  surveyor  is  employed  with 
his  transit  to  run  off  the  lines.  The  writer  has  sev- 
eral times  seen  this  done  and  has  tried  it  himself,  but 
does  not  recommend  it. 

The  next  most  accurate  method  consists  in  smooth- 
ing the  ground  thoroughly,  and  then  going  over  it 
with  a  marker  hauled  by  a  steady  horse  and  driven  by 
a  careful  man.  In  this  way  the  rows  may  be  located 
with  considerable  exactness;  and  if  there  are  small 
kinks  in  the  line  they  can  easily  be  straightened  out 


4O  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

5.  The  contention  that  stub  root  pruning  causes 
the  tree  to  form  a  deeper  or  better  root  system  has  not 
been  proved. 

6.  Severe  cutting  back  of  roots  and  tops  appears 
to  be  most  advantageous  with  peaches,  Japanese  plums 
and  pears  of  the  Kieffer  type.     It  is  more  successful 
in  the  South  than  in  the  North.     It  is  better  on  light, 
warm,  not  too  dry  soils  than  on  heavy  clay  or  dry 
sand. 

The  judgment  of  the  present  writer  may  be  summed 
up,  therefore,  by  saying  that  it  is  best  to  prune  nur- 
sery apple  trees  thoroughly,  even  severely,  just  before 
planting.  Not  only  should  all  straggling  and  broken 
roots  be  cut  off,  but  all  the  main  roots  should  be  cut 
back  within  3  or  4  inches  of  the  trunk.  Such  trees 
are  much  easier  to  handle  than  those  differently 
treated;  they  can  be  more  rapidly  planted,  and  the 
work  would  be  more  thoroughly  done.  At  the  same 
time  the  tops  will  be  cut  back  at  the  point  where  the 
head  is  to  be  formed.  If  the  heads  have  already 
been  formed  in  the  nursery  at  a  height  satisfactory  to 
the  fruit  grower  the  best  plan  will  be  to  shorten  all 
branches  to  stubs  of  2  or  3  inches  long,  taking  some 
pains  to  see  that  these  are  not  too  thickjy  placed.  If  a 
suitable  head  has  not  been  formed  in  the  nursery,  or 
if,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  head  has  been  formed  too 
high,  the  entire  top  should  be  cut  off.  Even  two-year- 
old  trees  can  be  thus  cut  back  to  bare  stumps  of  12,  18 
or  20  inches  tall,  from  which  satisfactory  growth  will 
be  secured  the  first  year  after  planting  in  the  orchard. 
This  matter  is  more  fully  discussed  under  pruning. 

PLANTING    OUT   THE   TREES 

To  the  novice  the  planting  of  a  tree  is  something 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  41 

wonderful.  There  are  mysteries  connected  with  it. 
He  approaches  the  work  with  fear  and  doubting,  and 
with  the  feeling  that  failure  lies  much  nearer  than 
success.  The  old  orchardist  has  learned  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  kill  a  good  tree.  If  anything  like 
reasonable  attention  is  paid  to  it,  it  is  sure  to  thrive. 
Trees  seem  to  grow  with  a  very  free  will  for  an  ex- 
perienced tree  planter.  The  inexperience  of  the 
novice  shows  in  every  movement.  He  takes  much 
more  time  and  pains  in  planting  his  trees  than  the  ex- 
pert does,  though  it  seems  doubtful  if  he  gets  any 
better  result.  When  large  orchards  are  to  be  planted 
the  expense  of  setting  the  trees  is  a  considerable  item. 
The  practical  orchardist,  therefore,  economizes  at  this 
point,  but  never  in  such  a  way  as  to  lose  money  by  it. 
In  planting  a  large  number  of  trees  economy  of  time 
demands  an  organization  of  the  work  and  a  clear 
fore-established  plan  for  conducting  the  operations. 
The  work  must  be  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  it  can 
be  done  expeditiously  and  at  the  same  time  properly. 

Having  decided  on  the  scheme  of  planting  to  be 
adopted,  there  are  various  ways  of  carrying  out  the 
planting  plan.  The  man  who  delights  in  clean, 
straight  rows  is  apt  -to  take  considerable  pains  in  laying 
off  the  field.  Sometimes  a  surveyor  is  employed  with 
his  transit  to  run  off  the  lines.  The  writer  has  sev- 
eral times  seen  this  done  and  has  tried  it  himself,  but 
does  not  recommend  it. 

The  next  most  accurate  method  consists  in  smooth- 
ing the  ground  thoroughly,  and  then  going  over  it 
with  a  marker  hauled  by  a  steady  horse  and  driven  by 
a  careful  man.  In  this  way  the  rows  may  be  located 
with  considerable  exactness;  and  if  there  are  small 
kinks  in  the  line  they  can  easily  be  straightened  out 


42  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

by  the  eye  as  the  trees  are  set.  When  this  system  of 
marking  is  undertaken  the  marker  should  be  driven 
across  the  field  in  both  directions  and  the  trees  located 
at  the  intersections  of  the  lines.  In  small  plantings 
it  is  feasible  to  mark  in  one  direction  and  then  to 
stretch  a  garden  line  or  rope  at  right  angles  to  the 
marks,  making  the  plantings  along  the  garden  line. 


ORTHODOX    METHOD  OF   TREE   PLANTING 

This  latter  method,  however,  is  not  suitable  to  large 
undertakings. 

\^hen  the  trees  are  located  in  this  way  by  the 
intersection  of  marks,  the  exact  point  at  which  the 
trees  are  to  be  placed  is  lost  when  the  hole  is  dug.  It 
is  customary  under  such  circumstances  to  use  a  par- 
ticular contrivance  sometimes  known  as  the  "planting- 
jack"  for  locating  the  tree.  As  shown  in  the  illus- 
tration, this  consists  of  a  lath  or  small  board  5  to  6 
feet  long,  6  inches  wide,  and  I  inch  thick.  This  is 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  43 

notched  at  either  end  and  in  the  middle.  Before  the 
hole  is  dug  the  jack  is  laid  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground  with  the  middle  notch  resting  against  the 
stake  where  the  tree  is  to  be  set,  the  ground  having 
been  carefully  staked  out  in  advance.  Small  stakes 
are  then  placed  in  the  two  end  notches.  The  jack  is 
removed,  the  middle  stake  taken  out  and  the  hole  dug. 
The  jack  is  then  put  back  into  its  original  position 
with  the  two  ends  fitting  upon  the  end  stakes.  The 
tree  is  then  put  into  the  hole  with  the  trunk  or  collar 
coming  into  the  notch  in  the  middle  of  the  jack,  so 
that  the  tree  is  held  exactly  where  the  original  stake 
was  taken  out.  The  roots  of  the  tree  are  then  cov- 
ered, the  jack  is  removed  and  the  planting  is  complete. 
This  manipulation  is  not  fast  enough,  however,  for 
the  rushing  business  methods  of  modern  orchard 
planting.  The  plan  adopted  is  more  commonly  about 
as  follows :  After  the  land  is  properly  prepared  for 
the  trees,  the  rows  are  measured  off  on  all  four  sides 
of  each  rectangular  field.  Good,  tall  stakes  are  set  to 
sight  by.  It  is  best  also  to  set  a  row  of  stakes  across 
the  middle  of  the  field  in  each  direction,  being  careful 
that  the  stakes  are  accurately  aligned  with  the  corre- 
sponding stakes  at  the  four  sides.  Next  a  steady 
team  is  hitched  to  a  plow — a  double  mold-board  or 
listing  plow  is  best — and  a  deep  dead-furrow  is  turned 
out  along  each  line,  in  one  direction  only,  across  the 
field.  It  is  often  necessary  or  advisable  to  run  the 
plow  twice  or  even  oftener,  in  a  furrow  in  order  to 
secure  depth.  A  second  time  through  the  furrow  us- 
ually helps  also  to  straighten  out  small  irregularities. 
The  ground  is  now  marked  in  one  direction  and  the 
stakes  which  are  still  standing  enable  a  planter  with  a 


44  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

quick  eye  to  set  a  tree  in  position  by  sighting  in  both 
directions. 

The  planting  gang  is  now  put  to  work.  It  should 
consist  of  four  men.  The  first  man  prepares  the  trees 
for  setting  by  separating  them  from  the  bunches  and 
by  pruning  them  with  a  pair  of  sharp  pruning  shears 
which  he  carries  in  his  hip  pocket.  He  then  goes 
ahead  of  the  other  three  men  and  drops  a  tree  at  each 
place.  The  duty  of  the  second  man  is  to  hold  the 
tree  in  position  while  it  is  being  planted.  The  third 
and  fourth  men  carry  shovels  and  fill  the  soil  in  about 
the  roots.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  third  and  fourth 
men  also  to  sight  the  tree  into  position.  As  soon  as 
one  tree  is  planted  the  second  man  walks  forward  to 
the  next  tree,  picks  it  up  and  places  it  approximately 
in  position.  One  of  the  shovelers  who  has  stayed  be- 
hind for  the  purpose  sights  forward  down  the  row  to 
bring  the  tree  into  line  with  the  stakes.  He  motions 
to  the  man  who  holds  the  tree  until  the  alignment  is 
secured.  The  other  shoveler  meanwhile  has  stepped 
to  one  side  where  he  is  able  to  sight  down  the  line  in 
the  other  direction  and  in  like  manner  to  indicate  the 
cross  alignment  for  the  man  who  holds  the  tree.  As 
soon  as  the  tree  is  placed  in  its  proper  position  the 
two  shovelers  begin  to  fill  in  about  the  roots,  one  from 
one  side  of  the  furrow  and  the  other  from  the  other. 
Two  or  three  shovelfuls  of  earth  from  each  shoveler 
are  quite  enough  in  most  cases.  These  are  tramped 
down  quickly  by  the  man  who  holds  the  tree,  and  the 
gang  proceeds  rapidly  to  the  next  point,  where  the 
operation  is  repeated. 

After  a  little  practice,  planting  can  be  done  very 
rapidly  in  this  way,  and  very  efficiently,  too.  If  the 
long,  spreading  roots  are  all  cut  off,  as  already  ad- 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  45 

vised,  there  need  be  no  delay  for  spreading  out  and 
locating  the  main  roots  as  the  amateur  commonly  does 
it.  The  trees  do  not  need  to  be  very  thoroughly  cov- 
ered in,  because  it  is  expected  that  the  furrows  will  be 
promptly  rilled  by  plowing  back  toward  the  trees  with 
a  steady  team.  A  gang  of  four  men  working  in  this 
way  can  readily  set  5  to  15  acres  of  trees  a  day,  de- 
pending on  the  number  of  trees  to  an  acre,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  soil  and  other  factors.  It  will  surprise  the 
man  who  has  not  seen  it  done,  too,  to  see  how  well 
the  work  is  performed  and  how  good  an  alignment  is 
secured. 

When  holes  are  to  be  dug  by  hand  it  is  best  to  use 
sharp,  square-pointed,  short-handled  spades  in  hard 
ground,  long-handled  spades  in  medium  ground,  and 
long-handled,  round-pointed  shovels  in  light,  loose  or 
stony  ground.  Of  course  different  men  have  their 
own  preferences  in  this  respect,  but  they  will  not  de- 
part far  from  the  rule  here  laid  down.  There  are  some 
special  devices  for  digging  the  holes,  usually  more  or 
less  oi>  the  post-auger  pattern,  but,  like  patent  farm 
gates,  they  are  of  little  practical  value. 

Especial  caution  ought  to  be  observed  when  plant- 
ing is  being  done  to  see  that  the  stock  is  all  on  hand, 
that  it  is  in  the  field  where  it  is  to  be  used,  and  that 
it  is  in  proper  condition.  The  stock  should  be  heeled- 
in  on  the  borders  of  the  field  where  it  is  within  easy 
reach  of  the  planting  gang. 

The  use  of  water  poured  about  each  tree  in  plant- 
ing is  hardly  to  be  recommended.  It  is  impracticable 
in  large  operations  on  account  of  the  bother  and  ex- 
pense connected  with  it  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  does 
any  good.  At  any  rate,  if  the  ground  is  in  good  con- 
dition this  little  irrigation  will  not  be  needed. 


46  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

DOUBLE- WORKING 

At  this  point  a  few  words  ought  to  be  given  to  the 
interesting  practice  of  double-working  trees.  The 
fruit  grower  following  this  plan  plants  trees  of  some 
healthy,  clean-growing  variety,  but  not  the  variety 
from  which  he  hopes  to  gather  fruit.  When  these 
trees  have  reached  a  suitable  size  they  are  topworked 
to  the  variety  which  the  orchardist  really  wants  to 
grow. 

This  second  working  is  usually  done  by  the  cleft- 
graft  process,  but  some  men  prefer  budding  upon  the 
smaller  branches. 

The  age  at  which  the  trees  are  reworked  may 
vary.  Some  growers  top-graft  the  first  or  second 
year  after  planting  two-year-old  nursery  trees  in  their 
places  in  the  orchard.  The  entire  top  is  removed  and 
two  scions  take  its  place.  Other  growers  prefer  to 
wait  till  the  stock-variety  has  formed  its  principal 
crotches  and  then  work  upon  the  main  limbs.  The 
former  method  is  the  more  expeditious ;  the  latter  se- 
cures the  advantage  of  better  crotches  for  weak- 
growing  varieties  or  for  those,  like  King,  which  are 
subject  to  canker  in  the  crotches. 

It  is  sometimes  claimed  that  this  method  brings 
trees  into  bearing  earlier,  but  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
this  happens,  for  it  is  certain  that  double-working 
may  delay  the  time  at  which  trees  come  into  bearing. 

Double-working  has  certain  definite  and  obvious 
advantages  in  growing  tender,  badly  formed  varie- 
ties, or  those  much  subject  to  defects  of  tree.  Such 
sorts  as  Canada  Red,  Tompkins  King  and  Esopus 
Spitzenberg,  may  properly  be  handled  in  this  manner. 
A  good,  strong  trunk  and  frame  can  be  formed  by 


STARTING   THE   ORCHARD  47 

some  thrifty,  healthy,  comely  growing  variety,  and 
only  the  outer  shell  of  the  top  need  be  of  the  fruit- 
bearing  sort. 

Another  possible  advantage  of  this  double-working 
lies  in  the  opportunity  to  use  selected  scions.  It  is  well 
known  that  there  are  striking  individual  differences 
among  different  trees  of  the  same  variety.  Of  two  ad- 
joining trees  of  the  same  variety  in  the  same  row  one 
will  give  brighter  colored  fruit  than  the  other;  one 
will  bear  annually,  while  the  other  bears  biennially; 
or  one  will  habitually  yield  twice  as  much  as  its 
neighbor.  It  is  generally  believed  that  these  differ- 
ences can  be  reproduced  by  selecting  grafts  from  the 
best  trees.  The  fruit  grower,  therefore,  who  develops 
his  orchard  by  the  double-working  process  has  the 
opportunity  to  choose  scions  from  specially  productive 
trees  or  from  those  which  bear  specially  attractive 
fruit. 

The  varieties  usually  chosen  for  stocks  when  apple 
trees  are  to  be  reworked  in  the  orchard  are  Spy,  Tol- 
man,  Duchess  and  McMahon.  The  last  two  are 
particularly  hardy  and  are  used  chiefly  at  the  North 
where  the  Russian  Hibernal  is  also  sometimes  used. 
Tolman  is  hard  to  buy  in  American  nurseries,  but  is 
one  of  the  very  best  for  this  purpose.  Spy  makes  too 
large  a  tree  and  should  be  headed  very  low  if  it  is  to 
be  reworked,  as  double-working  has  a  tendency  to 
make  higher  headed  trees.  Ben  Davis  is  some- 
times used,  and  has  at  least  the  advantage  of  being 
always  purchasable. 


VI 

ORCHARD  CULTIVATION 

THERE  was  a  time,  within  the  memory  of  even  young 
men,  when  the  advisability  of  cultivating  orchards  was 
held  to  be  a  debatable  question.  The  development 
of  the  modern  commercial  orchard,  however,  has  set 
the  argument  at  rest.  The  man  who  is  growing  fruit 
on  a  large  scale  for  the  money  there  is  in  it  cannot 
carry  on  the  business  without  cultivation.  Where  the 
orchard  is  a  mere  incident  in  a  system  of  mixed  farm- 
ing it  may  often  be  most  convenient  and  satisfactory 
to  have  it  in  grass,  or  to  depend  on  pigs  or  poultry 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  soil;  but  this  is  not  really 
fruit  growing,  and  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  excep- 
tion. It  may  still  be  possible  under  very  unusual 
conditions  that  certain  orchards  will  thrive  as  well 
without  cultivation  as  with  it.  The  cases  are  still 
more  frequent  in  which  small  tracts  of  land  may  be 
wisely  planted  to  apple  trees,  though  the  ground  is  too 
rough  and  stony  to  admit  of  cultivation.  It  is  cer- 
tain, however^  that,  as  a  business  proposition,  the  <nan 
who  would  select  such  a  tract  for  a  commercial  apple 
orchard  would  deliberately  place  himself  at  a  serious 
disadvantage  in  his  competition  with  the  men  who 
plant  their  orchards  on  good  tillable  soil,  and  who 
follow  the  best  practices  of  modern  tillage  in  the  man- 
agement of.  their  trees. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  dis- 
cussion of  the  "Hitchings  method,"  advocated  by  a 
few  eminent  horticulturists,  especially  by  Mr.  Grant 

48 


ORCHARD   CULTIVATION  49 

Hitchings  of  New  York  state.  This  method  consists 
in  seeding  the  orchard  down  to  clover  and  grasses,  in 
mowing  this  herbage  several  times  each  summer  and 
leaving  it  mulched  around  the  trees.  Mr.  Hitchings 
himself  claims  the  following  advantages  for  his 
method : 

1.  Less  cost  of  maintenance. 

2.  Earlier,  better  colored  fruit. 

3.  Better  keeping  qualities. 

4.  Wood  matures  better  and  earlier. 

5.  The  trees  can  be  headed  lower. 

6.  The  sod  mulch  favors  bacterial  action. 

7.  Leaves  more  time  for  other  work. 

8.  Prevents   deep   freezing   of  the   soil. 

9.  Easier  driving  through  orchard   for  spraying, 
etc. 

10.  Soil  improves  each  year. 

Some  of  these  claims  are  unquestionably  well  found- 
ed; others  are  fanciful.  Some  of  the  strongest  of 
these  claims  are  fully  offset  by  other  advantages  be- 
longing to  the  more  .orthodox  methods  of  cultivation. 
These  advantages  will  be  explained  more  fully  in  the 
following  paragraphs. 

One  of  the  most  serious  practical  objections  to  the 
Hitchings  system  is  that  very  few  men  wjll  carry  it 
out  properly.  When  not  fully  carried  out  it  is  dan- 
gerous and  bad;  whereas  almost  any  sort  of  tillage 
is  beneficial,  and  only  in  the  most  exceptional  cases 
can  tillage  be  harmful. 

Thus  we  may  lay  it  down  as  a  rule,  subject  to  minor 
exceptions  only,  that  the  commercial  orchard  is  al- 
ways to  be  cultivated.  We  are  concerned,  then,  simply 
with  the  objects,  the  methods  and  the  means  of 
culture. 


50  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

OBJECTS    OF    CULTIVATION 

The  purposes  served  by  the  cultivation  of  the  soil 
are  several.  Sometimes  one  is  more  important  than 
another,  but  the  killing  of  weeds — long  regarded  by 
farmers  as  the  only  motive  for  cultivation — is  cer- 
tainly of  the  very  least  importance.  The  principal 
objects  are  as  follows: 

I.     To  improve  the  physical  condition 'of  the  soil. 


IDEAL  TILLAGE 

The  soil  is  broken  up,  made  finer,  thus  allowing  the 
roots  to  ramify  farther  and  deeper  through  it,  and  also 
making  it  hold  moisture  better.  If  cultivation  is 
deep,  as  in  general  it  should  be,  it  brings  new  layers 
of  soil  into  use,  unlocking  stores  of  plant  food  pre- 
viously inaccessible  and  increasing  the  water  storage 
capacity  of  the  soil.  It  is  possible  thus,  by  deeper 
cultivation,  for  a  man  to  double  the  amount  of  his 


ORCHARD   CULTIVATION  51 

farm  land  without  buying  another  acre.  The  best 
farmers  recommend  a  gradual  deepening  of  cultiva- 
tion, say  at  the  rate  of  y*  inch  to  i  inch  each  year, 
down  to  the  lowest  practicable  depth.  Just  what  the 
lowest  practicable  depth  may  be  will  vary  greatly,  of 
course,  in  different  cases ;  it  has  been  determined  only 
in  a  very  few  instances  anywhere  in  this  country.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  a  farmer  should  use  his  fields  to  a 
depth  of  something  more  than  a  foot,  no  matter  what 
the  soil  formation,  and  that  in  favorable  soils  he  should 
go  down  to  a  depth  of  16  to  18  inches,  or  even  to 
2  feet. 

Deep  cultivation  seems,  at  first  thought,  to  be  im- 
practicable in  an  orchard.  This  matter  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  a  subsequent  paragraph;  but  just  here  it 
should  be  remarked  that  no  crop  works  deeper  than 
fruit  trees.  They  require  a  soil,  therefore,  opened  to 
the  lowest  practicable  depth.  The  deepening  of  the 
soil  for  crops  of  fruit  trees  is  largely  a  matter  of 
preparation  before  planting,  but  it  is  a  matter,  too, 
which  cannot  be  forgotten  whenever  the  subsequent 
cultivation  is  talked  of. 

2.  Cultivation  promotes  drainage.  A  good  farm- 
ing soil  should  be  in  such  a  condition  that  it  will  dis- 
pose of  any  ordinary  rain  without  allowing  any  of 
it  to  pass  off  as  surface  drainage.  Surface  drainage 
on  plowed  fields  is  wasteful  and  dangerous.  It  is 
wasteful  because  it  means  just  so  much  water  lost, 
much  of  which  might  have  been  saved  for  the  use  of 
the  crop.  It  is  dangerous  because  it  washes  away 
the  best  soil  and  much  of  the  fertilizer.  It  carries 
away  the  farmer's  capital  and  his  stock  in  process  of 
manufacture. 


52  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

A  loose,  well-cultivated,  thoroughly  pulverized  soil 
acts  like  a  sponge :  it  takes  up  the  water  as  fast  as  it 
falls.  A  hard,  uncultivated  soil  acts  like  a  block  of 
wood:  it  grows  damp  if  left  out  in  the  rain,  but  re- 
quires more  than  ordinary  means  to  squeeze  any  water 
out  of  it  after  the  shower  is  over. 

If  the  field  is  supplied  with  underdrains,  as  perhaps 
in  most  cases  it  should  be,  the  spongy,  well-cultivated 
soil  protects  them  from  flowing  while  the  rain  is  fall- 
ing, and  gives  up  to  them  the  excess  of  water  more 
slowly  afterward.  The  rains  are  thus  made  to  do 
better  service. 

3.  Cultivation  releases  new  plant  food  in  the  soil. 
Any  good  agricultural  soil  gives  up  its  store  of  plant 
food  very  slowly.     The  so-called  exhausted  soils  in 
many  fields  still  contain  food  enough  to  grow  good 
crops  for  hundreds  of  years,  only  it  is  not  available. 
There  is  enough  plant  food  in  the  broken  stone  ballast 
on  a  mile  of  good  railroad  track  to  grow  a  luxuriant 
row  of  apple  trees  and  to  ripen  abundant  crops  for  a 
century.     But,  aside   from  other  inconveniences,  the 
principal  drawback  to  the  railroad  ballast  as  a  medium 
for  growing  apple  trees  is  that  it  lacks  pulverization. 
In  every  way  cultivation  feeds  the  plants  by  making 
available  more  of  the  chemical  elements  naturally  in 
the  soil. 

4.  Cultivation  helps  the  crop  to   appropriate   any 
fertilizer  which  may  be  used.     The  frequent  stirring  of 
the  soil  brings  new  particles  of  fertilizer  into  contact 
with  the  air  and  with  the  rootlets  of  the  trees.    The  air 
and  the  root  acids  break  up  these  particles  of  plant 
food  so  they  may  be  absorbed  for  the  nourishment  of 
the  tree. 


ORCHARD   CULTIVATION  53 

5.  Cultivation  conserves   moisture.     We   have   al- 
ready seen  that  deep  cultivation  enables  the  soil  to 
absorb  and  retain  great  quantities  of  moisture  which 
would  otherwise  rapidly  drain  away.     Shallow  culti- 
vation helps  very  greatly  to  hold  this  moisture  after  it 
is  caught.     One  of  the  greatest  sources  of  loss  of 
moisture    is    evaporation    from    the    surface    of    the 
ground.     If  the  soil  is  uncultivated  it  soon  hardens — 
a  fact  which  everyone  has  observed  repeatedly.     The 
hard  surface  layers  are  then  filled  with  thousands  of 
little  capillary  passages  through  which  the  water  is 
quickly  pumped  up  to  the  surface,  thence  to  be  evapo- 
rated   into    the    air.     When    cultivation    is    practiced 
these  capillary  tubes  are  broken  up,  the  movement  of 
water  to  the  surface  is  prevented,  and  the  wasteful 
discharge  of  water  from  the  soil  into  the  atmosphere 
is  greatly  mitigated.    The  fine,  loose  soil  left  on  the 
surface  by  proper  cultivation  acts  as  a  mulch,  pre- 
venting the  evaporation  of  water  from  below.   Every- 
one knows  how  a  mulch  acts  on  the  soil.     The  pres- 
ervation of  this  soil  mulch,  or  dust  blanket,  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  has  now  come  to  be  recognized  as 
one  of  the  best  established  and  most  useful  of  agri- 
cultural practices. 

6.  Finally,  cultivation   kills  weeds.     Weeds  steal 
moisture  and  plant  food,  and,  therefore,  ought  to  be 
killed.     But  the  good  farmer  or  fruit  grower  has  very 
little  quarrel  with  the  weeds.     He  kills  them  inciden- 
tally while  he  cultivates  for  more  important  purposes. 

METHODS    OF    CULTIVATION 

The  fruit  growers  of  this  country  are  almost  unani- 
mously agreed  as  to  what  constitutes  the  best  routine 


54  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

of  cultivation  for  an  orchard.  We  have,  therefore, 
what  may  properly  be  called  a  system  of  culture.  The 
system  may  prove  to  be  wrong,  and  it  may  be  greatly 
improved  in  the  future;  but  for  the  present  we  may 
confidently  follow  it  as  the  best  working  outline  at 
hand. 

Preparatory  Cultivation — In  the  first  place  it  is 
very  generally  agreed  that  a  field  should  be  brought 
into  the  best  possible  state  of  cultivation  before  it  is 
planted  out  to  fruit  trees.  There  are  still  to  be  found 
occasional  cranks  who  preach  that  fruit  trees  should 
be  set  out  in  sod.  Mr.  Stringfellow  of  Texas,  who 
may  be  called  a  crank  without  offense,  has  recently 
advised  the  setting  of  orchards  in  sod,  using  a  crowbar 
as  the  only  tool,  and  cutting  off  all  the  roots  of  the 
young  trees  to  make  them  fit  the  crowbar  hole.  Still 
more  recently,  however,  after  trying  this  method  on  a 
large  scale,  he  has  reported  that  it  was  not  successful. 

The  preparatory  cultivation  of  a  field  destined  for 
fruit  trees  should  be  clean  and  thorough,  because 
otherwise  it  is  difficult  to  give  clear  and  thorough  cul- 
tivation after  the  trees  are  set  out.  If  the  ground  is 
full  of  sassafras,  hackmatack,  poison  ivy,  blackberry 
briers  or  perennial  grasses  it  is  much  easier  to  get  rid 
of  them  before  the  trees  are  planted  than  after. 

This  preparatory  cultivation  should  be  not  only 
clean  and  thorough,  but  it  should  be  deep.  The  ground 
should  be  loosened  up  as  deeply  as  plowing  will  do  it. 
On  some  soils  the  use  of  a  good  subsoil  plow,  run 
down  to  a  depth  of  twenty  to  twenty-six  iaches,  is  par- 
ticularly indicated.  Soils  which  are  too  loose,  and  are 
subject  to  leaching,  may  come  in  here  among  the  ex- 
ceptions. 


56  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

Tile  drainage  of  land  appropriated  to  apple  trees  has 
been  shown  to  be  practicable  and  altogether  advisable 
in  all  those  soils,  of  which  there  are  many,  which  bene- 
fit by  underdrainage  for  other  crops.  In  fact,  in  any 
case  of  doubt,  one  would  adopt  tile  drainage  for  land 
to  be  planted  to  apple  trees  rather  than  though  the 
same  land  were  to  be  given  to  almost  any  other  crop. 
This  is  first  because  the  trees  are  to  occupy  the  land 
for  a  long  time,  and  second  because  the  total  invest- 
ment in  an  apple  orchard  (and  the  total  income)  are 
apt  to  be  larger  than  with  most  other  crops. 

WHen  spring  planting  of  the  trees  has  been  decided 
on  it  is  usually  best  to  plow  the  land  the  fall  before, 
leaving  it  as  rough  and  ridgy  as  is  consistent  with 
good  plowing.  The  largest  possible  mass  of  soil  is,  in 
this  way,  exposed  to  the  freezing  and  thawing  winter 
weather.  The  lumps  are  broken  up  by  this  intermit- 
tent action  of  the  frost,  and  the  whole  upper  soil  is 
disintegrated  and  pulverized. 

In  the  spring,  before  planting,  the  ground  may  then 
be  reworked,  either  by  plowing  again  or  by  going 
over  it  with  a  disk  harrow,  spading  harrow,  or  some 
similar  implement,  depending  on  the  nature  and  condi- 
tion of  the  soil. 

When  fall  planting  is  practiced  there  is  somewhat 
greater  difficulty  in  getting  the  ground  into  condition. 
Perhaps  the  ideal  way  is  to  summer  fallow  the  fields 
destined  to  fall  planting  with  fruit  trees.  In  such  cases 
the  ground  should  be  subsoiled,  or  at  least  very  deeply 
plowed  in  spring,  and  the  surface  cultivation  during 
the  summer  should  be  frequent  and  thorough.  Other- 
wise the  soil  is  apt  to  dry  out  and  bake.  It  is  highly 
important,  especially  in  fall  planting,  that  trees  should 
be  set  in  loose,  friable,  moist  earth ;  and  the  soil  is  put 


ORCHARD   CULTIVATION  57 

into  the  most  desirable  condition  only  by  careful  pre- 
paratory cultivation. 

In  cases  where  summer  fallowing  is  not  deemed  best 
the  ground  should  at  least  be  given  to  some  light  crop 
which  comes  off  rather  early  and  which  may  be  culti- 
vated frequently  during  the  summer.  Potatoes,  beets, 
onions,  cabbages,  beans,  cowpeas,  and  similar  crops 
should  be  given  first  consideration.  Or,  it  is  equally 
good  practice  to  sow  cowpeas,  beans,  vetch  or  some 
similar  leguminous  crop)  early  in  the  spring  and  plow 
it  under  just  before  the  time  when  the  trees  are- to  be 
set. 

Treatment  after  Planting — The  management  of 
the  soil  in  an  orchard  during  the  first  few  years  after 
planting  naturally  differs  more  or  less  from  the  man- 
agement given  an  old  bearing  orchard.  The  treat- 
ment which  the  trees  receive  at  this  time  determines 
their  future  usefulness  to  a  very  great  degree.  One  of 
the  most  important  considerations  in  securing  a  profit- 
able commercial  orchard  is  to  see  that  the  young  trees 
are  kept  growing  just  as  vigorously  as  possible  and 
absolutely  without  interruption  from  the  very  first.  A 
tree  which  is  stunted  from  any  cause,  which  stops 
growing  for  a  time  on  any  account,  might  as  well  be 
abandoned  at  once.  It  is  therefore  a  matter  of  practi- 
cal necessity  that  an  orchard  should  receive  thorough 
cultivation  during  the  years  of  its  beginning  according 
to  some  well-matured  and  judicious  plan. 

The  plan  of  cultivation  that  receives  sanction  of  the 
best  experience  of  the  day,  and  that  also  accords  best 
with  modern  theories  of  soil  physics  and  chemistry,  is 
about  as  follows.  The  ground  is  plowed  deeply  and 
thoroughly  as  early  in  spring  as  possible  without  dam- 
age to  the  texture  of  the  soil ;  that  is,  as  soon  as  it  is 


58  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

thoroughly  dry.  The  amount  of  sand  in  the  soil  will 
largely  determine  this  point,  which,  since  it  is  all  a 
matter  of  local  experience  and  of  judgment,  cannot  be 
more  accurately  specified  in  print. 

When  we  speak  of  deep  plowing  in  an  orchard  after 
the  planting  of  the  trees  we  call  up  another  common 
objection  to  this  system  of  cultivation.  It  is  some- 
times said  that  deep  plowing  is  impossible  or  imprac- 
ticable in  an  orchard  because  it  cuts  off  the  roots  of 
the  trees.  It  is  true  that  if  one  attempts  to  send  down 
the  plow  to  a  depth  of  twelve  or  even  eight  inches  in 
an  orchard  which  has  never  been  cultivated,  he  will 
meet  with  some  difficulties  in  the  shape  of  large  roots. 
The  cutting  of  these  roots  will  entail  a  large  amount  of 
hard  work  and  may  weaken  the  trees.  On  the  other 
hand  it  may  not  hurt  the  trees.  It  is  altogether  unsafe 
to  assume  that  any  real  damage  is  done  even  in  cases 
where  large  roots  are  broken  in  plowing. 

But  the  objection  fades  away  utterly  in  the  case  of 
orchards  which  are  deeply  plowed  from  the  beginning. 
Under  this  treatment  large  roots  are  never  formed 
near  the  surface.  They  all  grow  below  the  reach  of 
the  customary  plowing.  All  possible  damage  of  this 
sort  is  thereby  prevented,  and  the  tree  is  better  for 
being  deep  rooted. 

After  the  deep,  early  spring  plowing  the  ground 
should  be  frequently  and  thoroughly  stirred  on  the 
surface.  Frequent  surface  cultivation  saves  moisture 
and  keeps  the  weeds  from  getting  a  start.  This  scari- 
fication of  the  surface  should  be  repeated  once  a  week, 
or,  in  case  of  insufficient  rainfall,  twice  a  week.  It  is 
a  good  plan  also  to  break  up  the  surface  after  every 
rain  or  heavy  shower  just  as  soon  as  the  cultivator  or 
the  harrow  can  be  safely  put  on  the  ground. 


ORCHARD    CULTIVATION  59 

If  no  other  crops  are  to  be  grown  in  the  spaces  be 
tween  the  tree,  this  sort  of  cultivation  can  be  kept  up 
till  about  midsummer.  Cultivation  in  general  should 
slacken  and  stop  simultaneously  as  the  growth  of  the 
trees  slackens  and  stops.  When  cultivation  ends  for 
the  summer  the  ground  should  be  sown  to  some  cover 
crop,  as  explained  elsewhere. 

In  many  orchards,  especially  in  those  which  are  not 
double  planted  (see  page  27),  it  is  feasible  to  grow 
some  catch  crop  between  the  rows  of  young  trees,  at 
least  during  the  first  few  years.  Some  men  think  it  is 
never  best  thus  to  crop  a  young  orchard,  but  with 
proper  care  and  liberal  feeding,  there  can  be  no  dam- 
age to  the  trees  from  the  presence  of  catch  crops  of 
the  proper  sort. 

Strawberries  make  a  very  satisfactory  crop  for  the 
spaces  between  orchard  rows,  but  they  cannot  be 
grown  very  successfully  after  the  trees  become  large 
enough  to  cast  an  appreciable  shade.  Annual  garden 
crops  are  usually  best  for  this  purpose,  partly  because 
they  are  usually  well  cultivated,  partly  because  they 
tempt  the  manager  to  liberal  fertilizing,  and  partly 
because  cultivation  ends  for  them  at  the  same 
time  when  it  would  properly  end  for  the  trees.  Early 
beets,  early  carrots,  early  turnips,  radishes,  peas  and 
beans  are  the  best.  Early  corn  is  advised  sometimes, 
but  is  not  quite  so  good.  Late  vegetables  should  be 
avoided  because  they  require  late  cultivation. 

Grain  crops  of  all  sorts,  such  as  grow  without  cul- 
tivation should  be  absolutely  prohibited,  except  that 
rye,  barley  and  oats  may  possibly  be  used  to  some  ex- 
tent as  cover  crops.  In  that  case,  however,  the  grain 
is  not  harvested,  and  even  under  these  circumstances 


6O  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

these  cereals  are  seldom  the  best  crops  that  can  be 
sown. 

Cultivation  of  Bearing  Orchards — When  the  trees 
have  attained  approximately  their  full  dimensions  the 
problem  is  changed  somewhat.  No  catch  crops  can  be 
grown  between  the  trees,  and  perhaps  even  the  tem- 
porary trees,  or  fillers,  in  double-planted  orchards  have 
to  be  removed.  Possibly  the  trees  shade  the  ground  so 
completely  that  no  weeds  can  grow,  although  that  will 
hardly  be  the  case  in  any  well-managed  plantation. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  fruit  grower  is  apt  to 
feel  that  cultivation  is  hardly  necessary  any  longer. 

When  we  consider  the  fundamental  objects  of  till- 
age, however,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  requirements  of 
the  full-grown,  mature,  bearing  orchard  are  the  same 
as  those  of  the  young  orchard.  Plant  food  is  still  be- 
ing used  in  quantities  as  great  as  ever,  perhaps 
greater ;  and  to  unlock  the  stores  of  plant  food  in  the 
soil  requires  continual  cultivation.  The  physical  con- 
dition of  the  soil  is  as  important  now  as  it  ever  was, 
and  a  good  physical  texture  is  preserved  chiefly  by  the 
stirring  of  the  soil  in  cultivation.  No,  it  is  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  that  when  an  orchard  is  fully 
grown  it  no  longer  needs  the  cultivator,  or  that  it 
needs  cultivation  less  than  formerly.  The  work  must 
still  go  on. 

It  is  more  difficult,  of  course,  to  plow  and  harrow  an 
old  orchard  than  a  young  one.  But  it  is  less  trouble 
than  is  commonly  supposed.  If  cultivation  has  been 
frequent  and  deep  from  the  very  first  there  will  be  no 
large  roots  to  catch  the  plowshare  or  cultivator  teeth. 
As  for  the  large  branches  which  heavy  bearing  has 
borne  down  to  the  ground,  they  are  a  difficulty,  but 
not  a  positive  bar  to  further  work.  Suitable  tools, 


ORCHARD  CULTIVATION  6l 

proper  harness,  steady  horses,  and,  above  all,  some  ex- 
perience on  the  part  of  the  workman,  will  make  a  very 
satisfactory  cultivation  possible  at  no  serious  expense. 

Those  who  have  not  tested  it  are  apt  to  think  that 
close  planting  and  low  heading  of  orchard  trees,  both 
of  which  are  recommended  in  this  book,  will  interfere 
seriously  with  the  operations  of  plow,  cultivator  and 
harrow.  Where  proper  heading  of  the  trees,  proper 
pruning  and  proper  cultivation,  go  forward  together 
from  the  establishment  of  the  plantation  no  difficulty 
whatever  arises.  The  failures  with  this  system  of  com- 
bined close  planting,  low  heading  and  frequent  culti- 
vation come  from  improper  adjustment  of  one  part  of 
the  system  to  the  other  parts,  or  they  come  oftener 
still  from  a  slack  enforcement  of  the  system.  This 
method  of  fruit  growing  is  not  adapted  to  careless 
handling.  It  is  in  many  respects  a  forced  system — a 
high-pressure  system.  If  the  manager  relaxes  the 
pressure  temporarily,  if  he  lets  go  for  a  time  at  any 
point,  he  loses  control,  and  the  whole  machinery  is 
thrown  out  of  order.  If  pruning  is  neglected  for  a 
year  or  two  the  trees  get  too  big  and  sprawling.  If 
cultivation  is  stopped  for  a  time  the  roots  occupy  the 
soil  and  get  in  the  way  of  future  plowings.  The  whole 
scheme  must  be  thoroughly  understood  and  conscien- 
tiously practiced  from  the  start.  Then  it  succeeds  ad- 
mirably. 

The  cultural  methods  suited  to  young  orchards  may 
be  applied,  with  obvious  modifications,  to  old  orchards, 
providing,  as  explained  above,  the  old  orchard  has 
been  properly  brought  up  on  the  same  general  system. 
The  soil  should  be  plowed  in  early  spring  as  soon  as 
it  can  be  properly  done.  Deep  digging  with  a  spading 
harrow  may  be  substituted  for  plowing  in  many  cases. 


62  THE  AMERICAN  APPLE  ORCHARD 

Then  light  surface  tillage  follows  at  frequent  intervals 
during  the  first  half  of  the  summer;  and  some  time 
from  the  middle  of  June  to  the  first  of  August  a  oover 
crop  is  sown. 


VII 

METHODS  OF  CULTIVATION 

IT  is  difficult  to  speak  in  any  general  way  of  the 
tools  used  in  orchard  cultivation.  They  vary  greatly 
from  year  to  year  and  in  different  localities.  There  are 
several  distinct  types  in  use,  however,  and  these  may 
be  briefly  described. 

Plows — The  ordinary  turning  plows  are  commonly 
employed  in  the  cultivation  of  tree  plantations.  Usu- 
ally the  lighter  forms  are  desirable,  since  very  deep 
and  heavy  plowing  is  impracticable.  The  plain,  iron 
beam,  chilled  steel  plow  best  su'ts  the  taste  of  the 
writer.  For  working  up  very  close  to  trees  a  small 
one-horse  plow  is  desirable ;  and  if  this  has  a  set-over 
beam — a  form  which  can  be  had  in  the  market — it  is 
all  the  better.  Double  or  triple  gangs  of  plows  are 
sometimes  used  in  orchards,  but  they  can  hardly 
be  employed  advantageously  except  where  there  is 
more  space  between  the  rows  than  there  ought  to  be. 

In  an  earlier  paragraph  we  have  spoken  of  subsoil 
plows  for  preparing  ground  for  planting.  These  may 
be  used  also  occasionally  along  the  middle  of  the 
orchard  interspaces  while  the  trees  are  young  and  the 
roots  are  reaching  out  for  new  feeding  grounds.  Sub- 
soil plows  are  not  very  popular,  and  are  seldom  seen 
at  the  implement  stores.  They  can  always  be  had  on 
order,  however.  The  very  simplest  forms  are  best. 
Rigidity  and  strength  are  the  requirements  in  a  sub- 
soil plow. 


64  THE  AMERICAN  APPLE  ORCHARD 

Harrows — Spading,  cut-away  or  disk  harrows  are 
now  deservedly  popular  among  fruit  growers.  These 
all  have  the  same  general  form.  They  differ  chiefly  in 
the  character  of  the  disks.  In  the  original  cutaway 
harrows  simple  concave  disks  are  used.  In  the  more 
recent  spading  harrows  these  disks  are  cut  into  several 


THE   CUTAWAY   IN   THE  ORCHARD 

sections,  each  section  acting  like  an  independent  spade 
as  the  disk  rolls  on  its  way.  This  latter  form  gives 
much  better  results  on  hard  soil.  It  is  adapted  to 
deeper  and  more  thorough  working  of  the  ground. 
For  light  surface  tillage,  such  as  is  most  desirable  in 
preserving  the  dust  mulch  for  the  conservation  of 
moisture,  the  plain  disks  are  doubtless  better. 


METHODS  OF  CULTIVATION  65 

The  best  form  of  disk,  cut-away  or  spading  harrow 
for  orchard  use  has  the  two  sections  arranged  in  such 
a  way  that  they  may  be  set  out  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  central  line  of  the  machine.  They  are  enabled 
in  this  way  to  run  far  up  under  trees  where  horses  can- 
not be  driven.  This  adjustment  is  of  the  greatest  con- 
venience. 

The  Acme  type  of  harrow  is  excellent  for  surface 
cultivation,  especially  in  good,  friable,  clean  soil.  This 
harrow  is  made  also  with  the  extension  frame,  so  that 
the  two  halves  may  be  set  out  like  wings  to  run  up 
under  the  orchard  trees.  On  very  stony,  hard  or 
trashy  land  this  tool  does  not  work  so  well,  but  on  the 
ideal  orchard  land  it  is  about  as  good  a  surface  har- 
row as  has  yet  been  invented.  It  is  especially  adapted 
for  breaking  up  the  surface  after  dashing  rains,  and 
for  preserving  the  necessary  dust  mulch  during  dry 
weather. 

The  spring-tooth  harrow  is  an  excellent'  tool  on 
rough  stony  land.  On  very  trashy  ground  it  clogs 
badly,  and  on  wet  land  it  does  not  do  the  best  work. 
On  clean,  light,  friable  soil,  better  results  can  usually 
be  secured,  either  with  a  disk  harrow,  an  acme  harrow, 
or  a  common  smoothing  harrow.  The  spring-tooth 
harrow  is  therefore  a  special  tool  for  special  cases,  but 
does  not  have  such  a  wide  range  of  usefulness  as  some 
other  instruments  of  tillage.  The  writer,  from  ac- 
quaintance among  farmers,  is  led  to  believe  that  the 
spring-tooth  harrow  is  used  oftener  than  its  merits 
warrant,  especially  in  New  England.  In  many  cases 
some  other  cultivator  could  be  used  to  advantage. 

Smoothing  harrows  of  the  ordinary  sort,  set  with 
teeth,  are  indispensable  in  orchard  cultivation.  The 
best  forms  are  arranged  so  that  the  slant  of  the  teeth 


METHODS   OF  CULTIVATION  67 

can  be  easily  varied.  For  very  light  smoothing  on 
well-prepared  ground  the  teeth  are  set  so  as  to  slant 
backward  at  a  considerable  angle.  As  the  teeth  are  set 
more  and  more  nearly  straight  up  and  down  they  cut 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  soil;  so  that,  in  loose 
ground,  they  can  be  made  to  do  a  good  deal  of  dig- 
ging. 


THE   GRAPE   HOE  FOR   CLOSE   CULTIVATION 

These  smoothing  harrows  are  also  often  made  now- 
adays with  extension  wings  for  running  up  under  the 
orchard  trees.  Such  a  harrow,  adjusted  in  this  way,  is 
one  of  the  best  implements  known  for  surface  cultiva- 
tion on  most  soils  during  the  summer.  It  fails  only  on 
very  hard,  very  stony  or  very  trashy  land. 

Other  cultivators,  such  as  those  of  the  Planet  Junior 
type,  are  sometimes  used  in  fruit  plantations.  The 


68  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

common  corn  cultivators  used  so  generally  in  the 
western  states  are  not  infrequently  seen  in  orchards. 
In  the  cotton  and  tobacco  growing  regions  it  is  not 
unnatural  that  cotton  and  tobacco  tools  should  find 
their  way  more  or  less  into  orchard  use.  All  these  im- 
plements are  merely  makeshifts  when  brought  into 
tree  plantations.  Especially  when  fruit  growing  is 
conducted  on  a  large  scale  one  cannot  afford  to  carry 
it  on  with  tools  designed  primarily  for  other  purposes. 
The  selection  of  the  best  tools  for  orchard  cultivation 
in  different  soils  is  not  the  easiest  problem  in  the 
world,  but  it  is  a  most  important  factor  in  successful 
orchard  management,  and  one  to  which  the  fruit 
grower  must  give  careful  and  constant  attention. 


VIII 

COVER     CROPS 

IN  discussing  tillage  we  have  several  times  spoken 
of  cover  crops.  The  cover  crop  is  nowadays  con- 
sidered to  be  an  important — in  fact,  almost  an 
essential — item  in  a  proper  system  of  orchard  man- 
agement. 

The  term  cover  crop  stands  for  any  sort  of  annual 
crop  sown  among  fruit  trees  during  the  summer 
and  plowed  under  the  following  spring.  -  It  is  grown 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  land  and  the  trees.  In 
this  respect  it  differs  from  what  is  often  called  a 
"  catch  crop,"  such  as  potatoes  or  corn,  often  grown 
between  orchard  rows.  The  catch  crop  is  grown  and 
harvested  for  itself,  and  though  it  may  prove  a  real 
benefit  to  the  land,  this  is  not  its  sole  or  prime  end. 

A  cover  crop  performs  various  valuable  services. 
Those  especially  worthy  of  notice  are  the  following: 

I.  The  cover  crop  helps  to  check  the  growth  of 
the  trees  in  late  summer,  thus  preventing  late 
growth,  and  encouraging  the  early  maturity  of  the 
wood.  In  regions  where  winterkilling  is  serious 
this  service  becomes  important.  It  should  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  apple  trees  carrying  heavy 
crops  of  fruit  seldom  need  anything  more  to  check 
their  growth;  and  as  this  check  is  applied  by 
taking  a  certain  amount  of  water  from  the  soil,  and 
as  the  trees  will  sometimes  need  this  water  in  matur- 
ing a  heavy  crop  of  fruit,  the  cover  crop  may  become 


70 


COVER   CROPS  71 

a  detriment  at  times.     Considerable  judgment  should 
be  exercised  with  regard  to  this  point. 

2.  Cover   crops   which   grow   late   in   the   autumn, 
especially  those  like  hairy  vetch,  which  live  over  win- 
ter, s?ve  considerable  amounts  of  fertility  from  leach- 
ing away.     Soluble  plant  food  in  porous  soils  is  quite 
apt  to  drain  away  during  late  fall  and  early  spring 
when  the  tree  roots  are  not  actively  foraging  for  it. 
Such  plant  food   is  caught  by  the  cover  crop,  and 
when  plowed  under  and  rotted,  becomes  available  for 
the  trees.    Cover  crops,  like  buckwheat,  which  die  early 
in  the  year,  evidently  are  less  useful  in  this  way. 

3.  A  good  cover  crop  prevents  washing  of  the  land 
in  winter  and  early  spring.     On  loose  sloping  lands 
serious  damage  often  occurs  from  erosion ;   and  this  is 
one  of  the  strongest  facts  in  favor  of  growing  grass 
in  orchards.     However,  the  benefits  of  tillage  can  be 
combined  with  this  advantage  of  grass  management, 
to  a  great  extent  at  least,  by  sowing  a  suitable  cover 
crop.     For  this   purpose   the  vetches   are   good,   the 
hairy  or  winter  vetch  especially  so. 

4.  The  cover  crop  adds  humus  to  the  soil.     The 
greatest  drawback  to  a  system  of  constant  tillage  in 
an  orchard  is  that  it  exhausts  the  supply  of  humus  in 
the  soil.     On  light,  warm  soils  this  exhaustion  comes 
early;    it  is  apt  to  be  very  complete  and  very  detri- 
mental to  the  trees.     On  heavier  soils  the  humus  sup- 
ply will  last  longer,  but  its  final  depletion   is  likely 
to  be  even  more  disastrous.     The  supply  of  humus 
may    be    kept    up    by    the    application    of    barnyard 
manure;    but  the  cover  crop  offers  a  cheaper  and  a 
better  way  of  doing  the  same  thing. 

5.  Leguminous  cover  crops  (that  is,  those  belonging 
to  the  pea  family  of  plants)  add  nitrogen  to  the  soil. 


72  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

These  plants,  such  as  vetch,  cowpea  and  the  clovers,  col- 
lect more  or  less  nitrogen  from  the  atmosphere.  When 
the  crops  are  plowed  under  and  decomposed  this 
nitrogen  becomes  available  for  the  trees.  As  nitrogen 
is  the  most  expensive  element  of  plant  food,  this  source 
of  supply  is  always  welcome.  While  the  quantity  of 
atmospheric  nitrogen  available  from  cover  crops  has 
probably  been  greatly  exaggerated  in  some  estimates, 
it  is  still  sufficient  in  many  cases  to  supply  the  entire 
needs  of  the  orchard.  With  a  good  annual  growth  of 
cowpeas,  soy  beans  or  vetch,  apple  trees  will  need  no 
further  allowance  of  nitrogen. 

METHODS   OF    MANAGEMENT 

The  usual  method  of  handling  a  cover  crop  is  to  sow 
the  seed  broadcast  at  the  last  cultivation  of  the  soil. 
Usually  this  comes  during  the  first  two  weeks  of  July. 
Later  sowing  may  prove  successful  in  southern  states, 
where  a  long  growing  season  may  be  depended  on. 
In  northern  districts  where  frost  comes  early  some- 
what earlier  sowing  of  the  cover  crop  is  desirable. 

Indeed,  this  desirability  of  earlier  sowing  has  sug- 
gested a  modification  of  the  common  procedure  as 
outlined  above.  This  consists  in  sowing  the  cover 
crop  considerably  earlier,  usually  the  middle  of  June, 
but  possibly  even  earlier  than  that.  The  cover  crop 
is  then  put  in  with  a  drill,  the  drills  being  18  inches 
to  2  feet  apart.  The  crop  is  then  cultivated  once, 
twice  or  three  times,  by  running  a  light  cultivator 
between  the  drills.  Thus  the  season  of  cultivation  is 
made  to  overlap  the  growing  season  of  the  cover  crop. 
An  additional  and  highly  important  advantage  lies  in 
the  fact  that  this  method  insures  a  quicker,  evener  and 


COVER  CROPS  73 

stronger  germination  and  growth  of  the  cover  crop, 
which  is  apt  to  be  slow  and  uncertain  by  reason  of 
summer  drought  when  the  crop  is  sown  broadcast. 

This  method  is  particularly  adapted  to  districts  hav- 
ing a  short  growing  season,  and  to  coarse  cover  crops, 
such  as  cowpeas,  soy  beans,  etc.  It  has  been  success- 
fully used  by  the  writer  for  some  years. 

The  cover  crop  should  always  be  allowed  to  remain 
on  the  ground  over  winter,  and  should  be  thoroughly 
plowed  under  at  the  first  spring  plowing.  Occasionally 
some  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  turning  under 
the  cover,  but  any  such  difficulty  can  be  met  and  over- 
come by  any  good,  practical  farmer. 

THE   VARIOUS    CROPS 

We  will  now  consider  the  main  characteristics  of  the 
most  popular  cover  crops. 

The  clovers  all  make  good  cover  crops  and  are 
largely  used  on  soils  where  clover  makes  a  good  stand. 
On  many  soils  it  is  hard  to  get  a  good  catch  of  clover, 
particularly  at  midsummer  when  the  weather  is  dry, 
as  it  is  apt  to  be  at  cover-crop  time.  Mammoth  clover 
is  probably  the  best  of  its  genus  for  the  purpose  in 
hand.  Common  red  clover  may  be  successfully  used, 
but  it  makes  less  growth  than  Mammoth  clover. 
Crimson  clover  is  an  excellent  cover  crop  in  some 
localities,  while  in  others  it  does  not  succeed  at  all. 
It  seems  to  be  especially  adapted  to  the  improvement 
of  impoverished  sandy  soils.  Alsike  clover  makes  a 
fairly  good  cover  crop,  but  is  seldom  to  be  recom- 
mended in  preference  to  Mammoth  or  Crimson  clover. 
Alfalfa  is  also  used  at  times. 


7i 


COVER  CROPS  75 

Cowpeas  form  the  best  possible  cover  crop  in  south- 
ern latitudes,  more  especially  on  light  soils.  They 
serve  excellently  in  the  improvement  of  run-down  soils. 
As  they  require  a  rather  long  growing  season,  they 
cannot  be  profitably  used  north  of  a  certain  latitude. 
This  limit  seems  to  run  a  little  north  of  New  York 
city  at  the  east  and  Omaha  at  the  west. 

Soy  beans  are  by  no  means  so  well  known  as  cow- 
peas,  and  are  perhaps  not  adapted  to  so  wide  a 
latitude  of  country,  but  in  northern  states  they  very 
successfully  take  the  place  filled  by  the  cowpea  farther 
southward.  They  are  especially  satisfactory  when 
grown  by  the  drill  and  cultivator  method  recommended 
above.  The  early  maturing  varieties  of  soy  beans  are 
to  be  preferred  for  northern  localities. 

Other  kinds  of  beans  sometimes  make  excellent  cover 
crops.  The  common  white  pea  bean  does  very  well, 
indeed.  Mr.  W.  T.  Macoun  x>f  the  Central  Experi- 
mental Farm,  Ottawa,  Canada,  has  had  first-rate  results 
from  the  use  of  the  English  broad  bean. 

The  vetches  are  in  some  respects  an  ideal  cover  crop. 
They  form  a  close  mass  of  herbage  which  kills  out 
weeds  and  holds  the  soil.  They  accumulate  remark- 
able quantities  of  nitrogen.  The  winter  vetch  lives 
through  even  hard  freezing  weather  and  makes  a 
quick  growth  in  the  spring.  In  fact  early  plowing  is 
necessary  to  eradicate  it.  Its  greatest  drawback  is 
the  high  price  of  the  seed,  which  at  about  $7  a  bushel 
is  too  expensive  for  practical  use.  The  summer  vetch 
costs  considerably  less,  yet  it  makes  a  fine  cover  crop 
either  drilled  or  sown  broadcast. 

Common  field  peas  ("Canada  peas")  make  a  good 
cover  crop,  more  especially  if  sown  with  barley.  The 
barley  supplies  a  support  on  which  the  peas  climb. 


76  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

Buckwheat  is  by  far  the  best  of  all  the  non-legumi- 
nous cover  crops,  and  is  worthy  of  consideration  under 
any  circumstances.  It  is  best  suited  to  northern  and 
northeastern  states.  Its  great  advantage  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  will  germinate  and  give  a  good  strong  cover 
no  matter  how  late  it  may  be  sown.  It  also  leaves  the 
land  in  good  physical  condition,  which  is  a  matter  of 
large  importance. 

Rye,  barley  and  oats  are  occasionally  used  sepa- 
rately  as  cover  crops,  but  are  not  to  be  recommended. 
Rye  may  be  used  as  a  last  resort,  but  oats  should  never 
be  sown  among  fruit  trees. 

The  following  table  shows  the  usual 

QUANTITY   OF    SEED   PER   ACRE 

Mammoth  clover,  pounds 12 

Common  red  clover,  pounds 12 

Crimson  clover,  pounds 15 

Alsike  clover,  pounds 12 

Alfalfa,  pounds  20 

Cowpea,  bushels   i!/2-2 

Soy  bean,  bushels iJ/2-2 

Broad  English  bean,  bushels i-i1/^ 

Summer  vetch,  bushels i'/2 

Winter  vetch,  bushel I 

Cahada  pea;  bushels I j/2 

Buckwheat,  bushel i 

Ry^e,  bushels*,  t?* i!/2 

Barley,  bushel^lM. ij/r2 

Barley  and  peas,  bushel,  each I 


IX 

PRUNING 

PRUNING  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant practices  in  horticulture  and  this  importance 
has  always  been  recognized.  Yet  it  must  be  confessed 
that  our  knowledge  of  pruning  is  highly  inadequate  to 
our  needs.  The  progress  made  during  recent  years  in 
other  forms  of  pomological  practice,  as  in  tillage  and 
spraying,  has  no  parallel  in  pruning.  In  this  very  in- 
fluential matter  we  are  hardly  better  off  than  our 
grandfathers  were. 

Pruning  practice  is  exceedingly  diverse,  even  among 
successful  horticulturists.  Some  prune  in  winter, 
some  in  spring,  some  in  midsummer.  Some  do  not 
prune  at  all,  others  cut  back,  their  trees  without  mercy. 
Some  grow  their  trees  with  tall  trunks;  others  head 
them  down  to  the  ground.  In  this  state  of  knowledge 
and  practice  it  is  manifestly  dangerous  to  lay  down 
stringent  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  novice. 

These  bewildering  differences  of  method  come  to 
light  immediately  when  we  begin  to  discuss  the  prep- 
aration of  the  nursery  tree  for  planting.  On  the  one 
hand  Mr.  Stringfellow  advocates  cutting  away  nearly 
the  whole  tree,  root  and  top.  On  th$  other  hand  old- 
fashioned  gentlemen  leave  everything  intact,  using  the 
knife  only  to  smooth  broken  roots  of 'branches.  And 
the  confusing  fact  is  that  both  methods  succeed.  This 
matter  is  discussed  in  its  proper  application,  page  38. 

The  next  problem  in  order  is  that  of  forming  the 
head  of  the  orchard  tree,  and  here  we  have  another 

77 


78  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

division  of  opinion  and  practice  as  to  whether  trees 
should  be  formed  with  tall  trunks  or  short  ones. 

HIGH  HEADS  VERSUS  LOW  HEADS 

The    argument    has    long   been    maintained    as    to 
whether  fruit  trees  should  be  formed  with  high  heads 

or  with  low  heads.  The 
same  division  of  opinion 
exists  with  respect  to 
the  training  of  all  kinds 
of  fruit  trees,  but  it  is 
most  often  discussed  in 
connection  with  apple 
orchards.  It  is  one  of 
the  questions  which  will 
never  be  settled,  be- 
cause men's  ideas  neces- 
sarily differ.  In  fact, 
what  seems  a  low  head 
to  one  man  will  seem 
high  to  another. 

Anyone  who  has  fol- 
lowed this  matter  for  a 
number  of  years  will  be 
struck  by  the  fact  that 
the  general  horticul- 
A  HIGH-HEADED  TREE  tural  opinion  has  under- 
gone a  great  change  in 

recent  years.  This  change  is  marked  and  unquestion- 
able. It  has  been  a  change  favorable  to  lower  heads. 
Men  who  formerly  advocated  high  heading  now 
recommend  something  considerably  lower.  This  fact 
is  all  the  more  striking  and  significant  because  the 


PRUNING 


79 


change  has  been  coincident  with  a  similar  change  in 
policy  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  orchards.  One 
of  the  old  arguments  against  low-headed  trees  was 
that  the  low  heads  interfered  with  cultivation.  The 
simple  fact  now  is  that  cultivation  is  more  common  than 

it  used  to  be,  and  a  great  _ 

deal  more  thorough,  while 
at  the  same  time  modern 
orchards  are  trained  with 
much  shorter  trunks  than 
those  of  a  decade  ago. 
Indeed  the  most  ardent 
advocates  of  low-headed 
trees  are,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  the  very  men 
who  also  practice  the 
most  thorough  systems  of 
cultivation. 

Low  heads  undoubted- 
ly have  many  advantages. 
The  trees  are  stronger 
and  less  likely  to  blow 
over.  This  is  most  con- 
spicuously the  case  dur- 
ing the  first  few  years  of 
growth.  A  young  tree 
with  a  bushy  top  on  a 
trunk  8  feet  long  is  pecul- 
iarly vulnerable  to  wind 
and  ice  storms.  It  is  also 


SUTTON   BEAUTY 

Headed  too  high 


subject  to  many  other  attacks  from  which  the  low- 
headed  tree  is  comparatively  safe.  Sun-scald  is 
always  much  worse  on  long  trunks  than  on  short 
ones.  In  fact,  nearly  all  the  disorders  to  which 


8O  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

tree  trunks  are  liable,  such  as  attacks  of  borers, 
frost  cracks,  etc.,  are  more  frequent  on  long  trunks 
than  on  short  ones. 

It  is  much  easier  to  pick  fruit  from  a  low  tree  than 
from  a  tall  one.  The  expense  of  operating  such  an 
orchard  is  less.  This  difference  is  proportionately 
greater  with  peach  trees,  plums  and  other  small  trees 
than  with  apples.  Nevertheless  it  amounts  to  some- 
thing even  in  the  case  of  old  apple  orchards.  Low- 
headed  trees  are  much  easier  to  spray.  It  is  almost 
laughable  to  see  some  of  the  high  tower  sprayers  used 
in  old  orchards.  There  are  apple  trees  doing  business 
in  this  part  of  the  country  which  are  tall  enough  for 
forest  trees.  Such  apple  trees  are  always  objection- 
able. There  are  many  ways  of  preventing  the  forma- 
tion of  such  high  heads,  and  a  shortening  of  the  trunk 
is  only  one  of  them.  In  fact  it  is  perhaps  a  minor 
means  when  considered  in  the  long  run,  but  it  is  a 
method  which  should  not  be  overlooked. 

Without  saying,  therefore,  whether  trees  should  be 
headed  2  feet  from  the  ground  or  8,  we  may  lay  it 
down  as  a  general  principle,  strongly  supported  by 
the  best  modern  experience,  and  exemplified  in  the  best 
modern  practice,  that  low-headed  trees  are  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  high  heads. 

THE  FRAMEWORK 

The  most  critical  work  in  pruning  is  that  connected 
with  the  formation  of  the  head  during  the  first  three 
years  of  growth  in  the  orchard.  It  is  everywhere 
known  to  be  important  that  the  formation  of  weak 
crotches  should  be  avoided,  but  just  how  this  is  to  be 
done  is  by  no  means  so  clear.  Some  varieties,  as  King 


PRUNING  8 1 

and  Winesap,  have  a  tendency  to  make  weak  crotches ; 
while  others,  as  Tolman  and  McMahon,  always  form 
strong,  clean  forks.  The  fruit  grower,  by  careful  and 
timely  attention  during  the  first  two  years,  can  secure 
the  formation  of  branches  practically  where  he  wants 
them.  Such  attention  is  most  timely  during  the  early 
summer  months — May  and  June — when  shoots  unde- 
sirably placed  can  be  quickly  rubbed  out  with  the 
gloved  hand.  The  following  spring  a  very  little  going 
over  with  the  pruning  shears  will  complete  the  work, 
leaving  a  few  vigorous  well-grown  symmetrically 
placed  branches  where  naturally  there  would  have 
been  a  lot  of  crowded,  weak,  half-choked  shoots. 

The  question  is  sometimes  discussed  whether  there 
should  be  three,  four  or  five  branches  reserved  to  form 
the  framework  of  the  tree.  It  is  largely  a  matter  of 
taste.  The  present  writer  prefers  four  or  five ;  but  dif- 
ferent varieties  should  be  treated  differently.  Spy 
naturally  forms  many  main  branches,  King  and  Pump- 
kin Sweet  much  fewer.  Whatever  the  number  decided 
on,  the  sooner  the  competing  shoots  are  taken  out  the 
better.  We  have  already  said  that  it  is  best  to  rub 
them  out  in  May  or  June,  when  they  are  first  starting. 

THE  SECOND  STAGE 

The  framework  of  the  tree  having  been  designed, 
the  work  of  pruning  enters  upon  its  second  stage.  The 
chief  question  now  is  that  of  the  ultimate  size  which 
the  fruit  grower  desires  to  develop  in  his  tree.  There 
are  two  general  and  quite  different  lines  of  practice  in 
this  matter.  The  common  and  certainly  the  simpler 
method  is  to  let  the  tree  have  its  own  sweet  way.  Each 
tree  is  allowed  to  grow  and  extend  its  top  as  far  as  its 


82  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

nature  and  the  food  supply  will  carry  it.  The  opposite 
method  assumes  that  the  natural  spread  of  the  top  can 
be  profitably  restricted  by  proper  pruning.  Necessarily 
this  second  method  comes  into  practice  along  with 
close  planting  and  other  intensive  measures  adopted 
by  the  unterrified  progressives.  It  should  never  be 
undertaken  except  by  those  who  know  just  what  they 
are  trying  to  do,  who  are  determined  to  keep  steadily 
to  their  ideals,  and  who  have  sufficient  reason  for 
adopting  the  riskier  and  more  laborious  method. 

If  the  tree  is  to  be  allowed  its  natural  and  unre- 
stricted development,  then  the  second  stage  of  its  life 
— from  the  formation  of  the  head  to  its  maturity — is 
comparatively  uneventful.  There  is  no  pruning  to  be 
done  except  to  keep  the  head  open.  On  the  other  hand 
if  the  method  of  repressive  pruning  is  to  be  adopted 
this  second  stage  becomes  the  most  critical  of  all. 
Heading  back  must  be  systematically  practiced  from 
the  beginning.  It  should  never  be  remitted  for  a  year 
on  any  account. 

While  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  reduce  this 
method  of  pruning  to  exact  rules,  the  following 
program,  practiced  with  intelligence  and  good  judg- 
ment, will  give  good  results.  It  has  been  carefully 
tested  by  the  writer. 

1.  In  the  beginning  be  sure  of  the  purpose  and 
method.     Unless  close  planting  has  been  adopted,  close 
pruning  will  not  be  necessary,  nor  advisable.     Unless 
reasonably   intelligent   labor   can   be   commanded  the 
work  is  greatly  handicapped. 

2.  Pay  strict  attention  the  first  year  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  framework.     This  should  consist  of  four 
strong  branches,  symmetrically  placed,  no  two  leaving 
the  trunk  .at  the  same  height  from  the  ground.     If 


PRUNING  83 

these  main  branches  make  a  growth  of  more  than  3 
feet  the  first  year  they  may  be  bent  back,  without 
breaking  or  cutting  them,  the  middle  of  July.  This 
bending  will  check  the  growth  somewhat  and  will 
cause  these  shoots  to  lay  on  a  greater  proportion  of 
growth  near  the  base.  It  is  specially  understood  that 
these  main  shoots  are  to  be  formed  near  the  ground — 
the  first  one  6  to  18  inches  from  the  ground — it  being 
not  worth  while  to  practice  close  pruning  on  high- 
headed  trees. 

3.  The    second    spring    the    four    main    branches 
should  be  severely  cut  back.     This  cutting  will  be  done 
at  a  distance  of  12  to  24  inches  from  the  main  stem, 
1 8  to  20  inches  being  preferred. 

4.  During    the    second    summer    two    secondary 
branches  should  be  allowed  to  form  on  each  of  these 
primary  branches,  all  others  being  rubbed  out  as  soon 
as  they  start.    This  is  most  quickly,  easily  and  econom- 
ically accomplished  by  rubbing  with  the  hand  protected 
by  a  glove.     A  light  pair  of  pruning  shears  will  do  the 
work.     On  good  soil  these  secondary  branches  may 
easily  make  a  growth  of  4  to  6  feet,  in  which  case  they 
should  be  bent  back  in  mid- July  as  advised  for  the  first 
summer. 

5.  In   February  or  March  of  the  third  year  the 
secondary  branches   should  ve  headed  back,  leaving 
the  stubs  1 8  to  20  inches  long. 

6.  During  the  third  summer  one,  two  or  three  ter- 
tiary branches,  normally  two,  will  be  formed  on  each 
secondary   branch.       Summer    pruning    will    still   be 
followed  in  order  to  insure  the  development  of  these 
tertiary  branches  by  rubbing  or  clipping  out  all  other 
shoots  as  soon  as  they  start.     These  third-year  shoots 
which  are  left  may  make  such  a  strong  growth  that 


84  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

bending  down  in  midsummer  will  be  again  advisable, 
though  after  the  third  year  this  practice  should  usually 
be  abandoned. 

7.  Each  succeeding  winter  or  spring  the  annual 
growth  of  the  previous  year  will  be  cut  back  from  one- 
third  to  two-thirds  its  entire  length,  and  this  practice 
will  be  followed  indefinitely.     Under  proper  manage- 
ment, however,  a  part  or  all  of  this  heading-in  may 
profitably  be  transferred  to  the  summer  season,  being 
given  some  time  in  July.     The  exact  time  and  extent 
of  this  summer  pruning  will  depend  on  many  local 
conditions,  so  that  this  part  of  the  method  should  be 
adopted  only  under  the  eye  of  a  competent  and  judi- 
cious man.     In  any  case  the  work  may  be  reduced  to 
one  annual  pruning  after  the  fourth  or  fifth  year. 

8.  Even  with  the  drastic  cutting  back  here  out- 
lined the  spread  of  the  tree  will  go  on  increasing,  and 
it  is  still  only  a  question  of  time  when  it  will  outgrow 
the  limited  space  allotted  to  it.     This  result  may  be 
considerably  postponed,  or  even  indefinitely  put  off,  by 
introducing  a  system  of  renewals,  somewhat  after  the 
manner  practiced  in  the  pruning  of  grapes.    If  in  the 
course  of  time  one  of  the  secondary,  tertiary  or  qua- 
ternary branches  be  removed,  the  work  may  be  begun 
all  over  again  from  that  point,  a  new  branch  with  all 
its    ramifications   being    redeveloped.       This    renewal 
work  needs  to  be  done  with  great  care,  but  nature 
sometimes  offers  special  opportunities  for  it  through 
the  breaking  of  a  branch  by  ice  or  other  accident. 

A  word  ought  to  be  said  just  here  regarding  water 
sprouts — the  soft  long  upright  shoots  which  form  in 
the  midst  of  the  tree  top,  especially  in  old  and  neg- 
lected trees.  Most  horticulturists  seem  to  regard  this 
as  the  most  iniquitous  form  of  tree  growth.  Professor 


PRUNING  85 

BaiLy  has  summarily  convicted  them  of  larceny  and 
has  sentenced  them  to  be  cut  and  burned.  While  these 
water  sprouts  usually  ought  to  be  removed  at  the  ear- 
liest possible  moment — that  is,  before  they  get  to  be  a 
foot  long — they  are  not  always  so  objectionable.  They 
represent  a  legitimate  effort  on  the  part  of  the  tree  to 
renew  its  framework.  In  almost  every  old  untended 
tree  may  be  found  young  lusty  fruiting  branches  easily 
recognizable  as  qtfcndam  water  sprouts.  A  strong, 
favorably  located  water  sprout  often  gives  the  very 
material  needed  for  renewing  a  portion  of  an  old  tree. 

THE  FRUITING  STAGE 

A  standard  apple  tree  should  come  into  bearing  at 
four  to  nine  years  from  planting,  and  should  continue 
to  produce  profitable  crops  anywhere  from  10  to  100 
years.  During  this  period  the  work  of  pruning  is 
-  directed  simply  toward  maintaining  a  permanent  con- 
dition of  fruitfumess.  There  are  five  principal  consid- 
erations to  be  kept  in  mind.  These  are: 

1.  To  keep  up  a  supply  of  fruiting  wood,  well 
furnished  with  fruit  spurs. 

2.  To  secure  an  annual  setting  of  vigorous  blos- 
som buds. 

3.  To   maintain   the   size   of  the  tree,   so  it  will 
occupy  the  full  space  allotted  to  it  and  yet  not  crowd 
its  neighbors. 

4.  To  keep  the  head  sufficiently  open. 

5.  To  remove  diseased  and  broken  parts. 

Let  us  look  at  these  five  problems  in  order.  When 
dwarf  trees  are  grown  in  special  forms,  as  they  are  in 
the  old  country,  the  supply  of  fruiting  wood  and  of 
fruit  spurs  is  kept  up  by  very  definite  methods  of  prun- 
ing. As  we  practice  fruit  growing  in  this  country  on 


PRUNING  87 

a  much  larger  scale,  the  same  precise  and  careful 
methods  are  hardly  practicable. 

It  is  easy  to  observe,  however,  that  a  condition  of 
healthy  and  moderate  growth  in  a  mature  tree  tends 
to  give  the  maximum  fruitfulness.  If  the  tree  is 
starved  new  branches  are  not  formed,  the  old  fruit 
spurs  soon  deteriorate  and  crops  become  scant.  A  poor 
tree,  if  choked  from  lack  of  pruning,  will  send  up 
many  water  sprouts,  but  these  will  not  have  strength 
enough,  nor  room  enough,  to  develop  into  fruiting 
branches.  On  the  other  hand  a  tree  which  is  making 
too  much  growth  unchecked  does  so  at  the  expense  of 
fruit  spurs  and  fruit  buds.  It  must  be  remarked,  how- 
ever, that  the  cases  wherein  apple  trees  are  injured  or 
made  unfruitful  by  over-feeding  or  over-cultivation 
are  rare.  The  majority  of  mature  trees  bear  too  much 
fruit  rather  than  not  enough;  so  that  if  heavy  growth 
tends  somewhat  to  check  fruitfulness  it  is  commonly  a 
favorable  symptom.  In  any  case  where  too  vigorous 
growth  seems  to  prevent  the  formation  of  fruiting 
wood  this  tendency  may  be  promptly  checked  by  early 
cessation  of  cultivation  or  by  withdrawing  the  allow- 
ance of  nitrogenous  fertilizer. 

A  proper  condition  of  growth  being  established  in 
the  tree,  the  production  of  sound  fruit  spurs  set  with 
vigorous  fruit  buds  depends  chiefly  on  an  abundant 
growth  of  foliage.  The  foliage  should  not  only  be 
abundant,  but  should  be  vigorous,  healthy,  dark  green. 
Insect  or  fungous  pests  which  destroy  the  leaves  of 
the  trees  thereby  largely  prevent  the  formation  of  fruit 
buds.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  fruit 
buds  are  formed  comparatively  early  in  the  summer — 
mostly  before  J^ily  first — so  that  any  damage  to  foliage 


88  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

occurring  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  makes  less 
difference  in  the  succeeding  crop  than  a  similar 
amount  of  defoliation  occurring  earlier. 

It  can  be  easily  understood,  in  the  light  of  these 
facts,  why  spraying  is  much  more  valuable  in  spring 
than  in  late  summer.  It  will  be  seen  further  that, 
while  spraying  may  serve  as  a  protection  for  the  pres- 
ent crop,  it  serves  an  equally  important  purpose  in 
assisting  the  developmert  of  next  year's  crop. 

The  majority  of  fruit  growers  have  accepted  the 
principle  that  the  size  of  their  trees  is  a  matter  beyond 
their  control.  All  they  hope  to  do  is  to  plant  trees  far 
enough  apart  so  that  they  will  never  crowd  one  an- 
other, or  else  to  cut  out  every  alternate  row  when 
branches  begin  to  intermingle.  If  a  man  adopts  this 
view  there  is  little  more  to  be  said.  If,  however,  he 
rejects  it — as  many  progressive  fruit  growers  are  now 
doing — it  is  necessary  to  adopt  in  the  permanent  sys- 
tem of  pruning  some  method  of  repression  whereby  the 
branches  may  be  periodically  shortened  in.  This  is  a 
somewhat  delicate  and  difficult  matter,  but  amounts  in 
reality  only  to  an  extension  of  the  heading-in  process 
already  discussed  on  page  83.  In  spite  of  its  greater 
difficulty  this  system  is  likely  to  be  more  widely 
adopted  as  fast  as  men  learn  by  experience  how  to 
manage  it. 

The  head  of  the  tree  should  be  kept  open  for  two 
purposes — first,  to  allow  the  sun  to  color  the  fruit ;  and 
second,  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  fruit  buds.  The  first 
of  these  considerations  is  sufficiently  obvious ;  the  sec- 
ond is  even  more  important.  It  can  be  observed  any- 
where that  fruit  sets  only  in  the  top  and  on  the  outside 
of  thick-topped  trees.  This  is  because  fruit  buds  cannot 
be  formed  where  the  sunshine  does  not  penetrate. 


PRUNING  89 

It  must  be  noticed  however  that  the  degree  to  which 
a  tree  top  should  be  kept  open  will  vary  considerably. 
In  Kansas  or  Missouri,  where  sunshine  is  abundant 
and  apt  to  be  hot,  tree  tops  should  be  encouraged  to 
form  thick  tops,  while  the  same  varieties  in  New  York 
or  Ontario  would  require  to  be  thoroughly  opened 
out. 

The  removal  of  dead,  broken  or  diseased  branches 
is  a  necessary  labor,  but  a  very  simple  one,  and  should 
require  no  special  explanation.  Such  work  should  be 
done  whenever  the  injury  is  discovered. 

ODD  YEARS 

We  have  now  to  notice  a  few  matters  of  general  in- 
terest in  connection  with  the  subject  of  pruning.  One 
of  these  is  the  odd-year  proposition.  It  is  commonly 
understood  that  most  varieties  of  apples  have  a  tend- 
ency to  bear  in  alternate  years,  giving  little  or 
nothing  in  intervening  years.  This  habit  is  especially 
emphasized  in  the  Baldwin,  so  that  in  the  region  where 
this  variety  predominates  the  "even  year"  is  under- 
stood to  be  the  "apple  year,"  while  the  "odd  year"  is 
the  year  of  famine. 

It  is  also  known  to  most  experienced  fruit  growers 
that  many  trees  fail  to  fruit  in  the  odd  years  simply 
because  they  are  impoverished  by  overbearing  during 
the  even  years.  It  is  known,  further,  that  in  case 
some  accident  prevents  a  tree  or  a  block  of  trees  bear- 
ing during  the  even  year  fruit  buds  are  likely  to  form 
and  a  crop  follow  in  the  odd  year.  Theoretically  it 
ought  to  be  possible,  by  thinning  the  crop  during  the 
bearing  year,  and  by  feeding  the  trees  well,  to  equalize 
the  crops  from  year  to  year,  thus  making  the  annual 


9O  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

performance  of  the  orchard  uniform.  While  the  best 
fruit  growers  are  undoubtedly  making  progress  in  this 
direction,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  theory  has  yet  been 
brought  to  such  a  system  of  practice  as  to  make  it 
workable  for  everybody. 

THE  TIME  TO  PRUNE 

The  best  time  to  prune  has  always  been  a  very  popu- 
lar matter  of  dispute.  The  mere  fact  that  the  question 
is  still  open  indicates  plainly  that  no  simple  answer  will 
cover  the  ground.  It  is  an  old  saying  that  "the  time 
to  prune  is  when  the  saw  is  sharp,"  and  this  proverb 
is  fair  to  the  extent  that  pruning  may  safely  be  done, 
under  certain  circumstances,  at  any  season  of  the  year. 
As  a  matter  of  practice,  however,  it  is  better  to  fix 
two  annual  seasons  as  specially  suited  to  this  work. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  dormant  period,  say  between 
November  I  and  April  i.  The  other  is  at  the  height 
of  the  growing  season,  which  in  the  northeastern  states 
would  be  the  first  two  weeks  of  June. 

The  most  important  difference  in  result  between 
summer  and  winter  pruning  lies  in  the  physiological 
effect.  Winter  pruning  has  a  tendency  to  promote 
wood  growth,  including  the  formation  of  water 
sprouts,  and  correspondingly  to  check  the  production 
of  fruit  buds.  Summer  pruning  has  the  opposite 
tendency,  promoting  the  formation  of  fruit  buds  and 
checking  wood  growth.  While  the  results  in  these 
ways  may  be  very  marked  at  times,  they  are  not  usu- 
ally so  conspicuous  as  to  give  the  fruit  grower  great 
concern. 

Winter  pruning  has  certain  practical  advantages — 
so  has  summer  pruning.  There  is  usually  more  time 


PRUNING  91 

in  winter,  most  men  are  better  used  to  this  kind  of 
pruning,  the  debris  can  be  more  conveniently  removed 
and  burned,  it  is  easier  to  paint  over  the  wounds.  On 
the  other  hand  wounds  heal  better,  if  made  in  early 
summer,  it  is  easier  to  detect  the  presence  of  dead  or 
diseased  branches,  some  waste  of  growth  is  saved,  and 
the  physiological  effect  on  the  tree  may  be  more  sat- 
isfactory. 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  adoption  of  a  system  of 
summer  pruning  would  be  a  distinct  improvement  in 
orchard  practice  in  a  majority  of  our  leading  apple 
plantations. 

PAINTING   WOUNDS 

After  long  discussion  and  experiment,  fruit  growers 
have  almost  universally  decided  that  the  best  covering 
for  wounds  is  a  heavy  coating  of  thick  white-lead 
paint.  The  addition  of  some  neutral  color  to  the  white 
lead  is  advisable.  It  is  proper  to  reiterate  in  this  con- 
nection that  large  wounds  are  to  be  avoided  wherevet 
possible. 

PRUNING  TOOLS 

The  best  pruning  tools  are  the  h&nd  shears.  Th«r 
style  commonly  called  grape  shears  are  especially  ad- 
vised ;  and  if  these  are  used  everywhere  with  suffi- 
cient promptness  and  judgment  there  will  be  much  less 
call  for  larger  and  heavier  tools. 

The  next  tool  to  be  recommended  is  the  long  • 
handled  or  extension  shears,  made  on  handles  of  4,  6, 
8  and  10  feet  in  lergth  and  shown  on  page  92.  These 
are  indispensable  in  ordinary  pruning.  Heavier  shears 


92  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

for  use  with  two  hands  are  sometimes  employed,  but 
are  not  especially  valuable.  The  pruning  chisel  is  a 
tool  sometimes  mentioned  in  the  books  and  catalogs, 
but  not  used  in  the  orchard. 


HAND   PRUNING    SHEARS 


For  cutting  large  branches,  when  large  branches 
must  be  cut,  a  saw  is  necessary.  The  regulation  prun- 
ing saw  sold  by  all  dealers  in  horticultural  supplies  is 
the  best  form  to  be  chosen.  The  chief  drawback  is 


LONG-HANDLED    PRUNING    SHEARS 

that  the  saws  usually  sold  are  of  distinctly  poor  qual- 
ity. These  saws  are  made  in  two  forms,  the  one  with 
straight,  the  other  with  curved  blade.  Some  men 
prefer  to  use  one;  some  prefer  the  other. 

Every   orchardist   likes  to   carry   a  pruning  knife. 
Since  this  tool  is  chiefly   for   ornament  or  personal 


PRUNING  93 

amusement,  it  should  be  well  made  and  pretty,  prefer- 
ably with  an  inlaid  handle.  Such  a  tool  is  really  use- 
ful at  times  in  the  nursery,  but  any  man  who  has  a 
day's  work  to  do  in  the  orchard  has  got  to  have  some- 
thing besides  a  knife. 

Ladders  are  often  necessary  in  pruning  large  trees. 
For  this  work  the  same  ladders  may  be  used  which 
are  used  in  picking  the  fruit. 

HOW  TO   MAKE  THE  CUT 

The  question  of  where  and  how  to  cut  off  a  limb  has 
caused  a  good  deal  more  discussion  than  its  impor- 
tance merits.  Branches  should  always  be  cut  back 
close  to  the  main  stem,  of  course.  Occasionally  one 
se'es  stubs  left  6  inches  or  a  foot  long,  but  such  work 
is  done  only  by  the  blundering  ignoramus  who  knows 
nothing  about  fruit  growing  -and  who  will  never  read 
this  book.  The  cut  should  be  made  as  close  as  possible 
to  the  parent  branch  while  at  the  same  time  leaving 
the  minimum  surface  exposed  when  the  cut  is  com- 
pleted. 


X 

FEEDING  THE  TREES 

THERE  has  long  been  a  feeling  in  agricultural  circles 
that  chemistry  ought  to  furnish  the  key  to  the  success- 
ful management  of  the  soil.  This  was  the  idea  attend- 
ing on  the  work  of  Liebig  and  all  the  earlier  agricul- 
tural chemists ;  and  even  Horace  Greeley  supposed  that 
the  chief  secrets  of  plant  growth  were  to  be  solved 
whenever  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of 
plant  foods  should  be  available. 

It  must  be  said  at  once  that  agricultural  chemistry 
has  not  thus  far  justified  the  high  expectations  enter- 
tained of  her.  Chemistry  has  not  yet  given  us  a  single 
receipt  for  the  fertilization  of  our  arable  lands,  and 
does  not  seem  likely  to.  Our  knowledge  of  the  use  of 
fertilizers  is  still  fragmentary  and  empirical.  We 
know  in  part  and  we  prophesy  in  part — in  a  very  small 
part,  too.  We  know  almost  nothing  except  what  we 
gather  from  experience,  and  experience  is  so  scant  and 
contradictory  that  her  teachings  are  hard  to  follow. 
A  recent  extended  inquiry  among  leading  American 
fruit  growers  shows  nothing  so  emphatically  as  that 
there  is  little  agreement  in  practice.  It  is  plain  also 
that  very  few  men  have  thought  out  and  adopted  a 
complete  and  consistent  system  for  their  own  orchards. 
It  will  therefore  be  manifestly  impossible  to  outline  a 
definite  schedule  of  practice  which  can  foe  adapted  to 
all  sorts  of  soils,  with  all  classes  of  fruits,  in  various 
climates,  and  by  all  kinds  of  fruit  growers.  Only  the 

94 


FEEDING  THE  TREES  95 

most  general  of  general  principles  can  be  given.  Some 
of  these,  however;  are  worth  studying. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  the  reader  has  a  fair  under- 
standing of  the  ordinary  fertilizers,  and  the  general 
principles  governing  their  use.  As  a  matter  of  review 
it  may  be  proper  to  recall  that  plant  foods  supplied  to 
the  soil  in  the  form  of  fertilizers  are  of  three  kinds; 
i.e.,  furnishing  three  different  chemical  'elements.  First 
and  most  expensive  of  these  is  nitrogen,  second  is  pot- 
ash, and  third  is  phosphoric  acid.  Plants  require  many 
other  chemical  elements  in  the  course  of  their  growth, 
but  these  other  elements  are  almost  always  present  in 
the  soil  in  sufficient  quantity.  Lime  is  sometimes  used 
as  a  fertilizer,  but  usually  it  is  employed  only  for  its 
secondary  effects  and  not  because  the  plants  really 
need  more  lime. 

It  may  be  said  roughly  that  nitrogen  is  useful  to  the 
plant  in  making  a  large  growth  of  fresh  green  wood; 
potash  is  valuable  for  the  assistance  it  gives  in  the 
physiological  process  of  plant  growth,  enabling  the 
leaves  to  take  up  the  carbon  in  the  atmosphere ;  while 
phosphoric  acid  helps  in  building  up  the  fruit.  This 
statement  of  the  various  offices  of  the  different  ele- 
ments is  extremely  rough  and  not  really  very  useful. 

In  practice,  nitrogen  is  applied  when  the  plants  do 
not  make  enough  growth.  When  an  orchard  looks 
yellow,  instead  of  a  dark,  bluish  green,  the  indications 
are  that  more  nitrogen  is  needed.  It  may  be  true  that 
the  soil  is  in  such  a  condition  that  the  plants  cannot 
use  the  nitrogen  already  present;  but  at  any  rate,  for 
one  reason  or  another,  the  plant  is  not  getting-  what 
nitrogen  it  needs.  In  such  cases  nitrogen  fertilization 
may  be  adopted  or  the  methods  of  cultivation  may  be 
revised. 


96  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE  ORCHARD 

Regarding  the  various  sources  from  which  different 
fertilizing  elements  may  be  most  effectively  drawn, 
the  fruit  grower  will  follow  somewhat  the  same  rules 
followed  in  general  farming.  The  fruit  grower  is 
somewhat  better  situated  than  the  general  farmer,  how- 
ever, as  regards  that  most  expensive  element,  nitrogen. 
If  the  fruit  grower  follows  the  system  of  cultivation 
now  commonly  recommended  and  grows  a  leguminous 
cover  crop,  he  will  be  able  to  supply  nearly  all  the  ni- 
trogen which  his  fruit  trees  need  without  any  expense 
except  what  he  pays  for  the  seed  of  his  cover  crop. 
When  other  nitrogenous  fertilizers  have  to  be  applied, 
nothing  can  surpass  well-rotted  barnyard  manure.  In 
a  few  instances  the  writer  has  known  of  the  successful 
application  of  muck;  but  this  can  be  recommended 
only  on  farms  where  muck  of  good  quality  can  be  se- 
cured with  very  little  trouble.  Nitrate  of  soda  has  been 
considerably  recommended  during  recent  years  and  is 
doubtless  one  of  the  cheapest  forms  in  which  nitrogen 
can  be  purchased  and  one  of  the  most  effective  forms 
in  which  it  can  be  used.  Its  specific  characteristic  is 
its  rapid  working,  so  that  it  is  especially  adapted  to  the 
immediate  correction  of  unsatisfactory  conditions  after 
the  season  of  cultivation  has  begun. 

In  deciding  what  forms  of  potash  and  phosphoric 
acid  to  employ  the  apple  grower  can  give  himself  the 
benefit  of  the  fact  that  slowly  available  forms  will 
usually  answer  his  purposes  as  well  as  the  more 
rapidly  available  ones.  As  the  former  are  usuallv  the 
cheaper,  this  point  is  of  importance. 

Partly  on  this  account  and  partly  on  account  of  the 
lime  contained,  basic  slag,  Thomas  phosphate  powder, 
should  stand  high  in  favor  with  the  orchardist  as  a 
source  of  phosphoric  acid.  Unfortunately  this  material 


FEEDING  THE  TREES  97 

has  not  been  so  cheap  in  American  markets  in  recent 
years  as  its  composition  would  seem  to  warrant,  and 
careful  buyers  have  been  apt  to  content  themselves 
with  high-grade  phosphates  of  the  usual  sort. 

As  a  source  of  potash  the  muriate  has  usually  been 
recommended,  but  the  sulphate  of  potash  is  doubtless 
better  for  most  soils.  The  muriate  soon  makes  a  soil 
sour,  and  apparently  does  not  give  good  results  on 
the  fruit  itself.  Kainit,  which  has  been  used  to  some 
extent,  is  objectionable  because  the  potash  in  it  costs 
more  a  pound  than  in  other  forms,  and  also  on  account 
of  impurities  it  contains. 

Coming  now  to  more  specific  suggestions,  we  may 
quote  a  few  formulas,  some  of  which  have  been  previ- 
ously published. 

Prof.  W.  P.  Brooks  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural College  recommends  for  average  conditions: 

Basic  slag  meal 400-500  pounds 

Low  grade  sulphate  of  potash  . .  300  pounds 

In  years  when  the  orchard  bears  freely  there  may 
be  added  75-100  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda,  though  pos- 
sibly the  growing  of  leguminous  cover  crops  may 
make  this  application  of  nitrogen  unnecessary.  The 
slag  meal  will  supply  phosphoric  acid  at  aboujt  3  cents 
a  pound,  and  it  also  gives  a  large  amount  of  lime, 
which  is  very  valuable. 

Mr.  George  D.  Leavens,  fertilizer  expert,  of  New 
York,  recommends  a  more  liberal  ration,  as  follows: 

Basic  slag  meal -...-.   1500  pounds 

High  grade  sulphate  of 

potash 300  -  500  pounds 

Nitrate  of  soda. 200  -  400  pounds 

This  is  for  an  orchard  in  full  bearing,  and  it  is  es- 
pecially understood  that  the  nitrate  of  soda  must  ba 


98  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

used  with  caution.  The  figures  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
formulas  here  given,  represent  the  amounts  to  be  given 
annually  for  each  acre. 

Dr.  L.  L.  Van  Slyke  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  recommends 
the  following  formula: 

Cottonseed  meal 100  pounds 

Raw  ground  bone 100  pounds 

Acid  phosphate 100  pounds 

Muriate  of  potash 100  pounds 

Dr.  E.  B.  Voorhees  of  New  Jersey,  in  his  work  on 
fertilizers,  recommends  the  following: 

Raw  ground  bone 400  pounds 

Acid  phosphate 400  .pounds 

Muriate  of  potash 400  pounds 

A  glance  will  show  that  the  last  formula  represents 
a  considerably  larger  amount  of  plant  food  than  the 
preceding  formula.  This  may  be  due  to  somewhat  dif- 
ferent conditions  held  in  view  hy  the  two  eminent  gen- 
tlemen quoted.  The  quantities  of  plant  food  to  be 
given  will  obviously  vary  between  wide  limits.  Fertile 
soils  will  require  less  than  poor  soils.  Young  orchards 
will  use  less  than  »old  ones.  Then  if  truck  crops  are 
grown  between  the  young  apple  trees  the  needs  of 
these  crops  have  to  be  considered. 


XI 

THE  INSECT  CAMPAIGN 

THERE  are  about  300  different  species  of  insects  that 
have  gone  on  record  at  one  time  or  another  as  attack- 
ing the  apple  tree  or  fruit  in  some  way.  Of  these  per- 
haps 100  have  at  times  done  real  damage.  Taking  the 
country  at  large,  however,  and  one  year  with  another, 
the  number  of  serious  apple  enemies  can  be  calculated 
at  less  than  a  dozen.  It  is  proper  and  even  necessary 
to  keep  an  eye  open  for  some  of  these  less  important 
pests,  for  occasionally  one  or  another  comes  forth  in 
large  numbers  in  some  particular  locality  and  plays 
havoc  with  the  apple  industry. 

Those  insects  which  may  be  regarded  as  permanent 
factors  in  the  apple-growing  business  are  the  San  Jose 
scale,  the  codling  moth,  the  apple  maggot,  the  forest 
tent  caterpillar,  the  falj  web  worm,  and  the  borers. 

San  Jose  Scale  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  worst  in- 
sects known  in  those  districts  where  it  has  become  es- 
tablished, and  it  has  become  established  over  a  wide 
range ,  of  country.  Eventually  all  the  apple-growing 
sections  will  find  the  scale  in  their  programs.  On  the 
whole  we  may  as  well  understand  that  the  scale  is  here 
to  stay  and  that  we  shall  have  to  fight  it. 

For  some  years  nursery  inspection,  quarantine  and 
fumigation  has  been  looked  on  as  a  means  of  con- 
trolling the  spread  of  the  scale.  They  have  unques- 
tionably contributed  somewhat  to  this  end.  Nursery 
inspection  in  some  states  has  -always  been  rigid  and 
thousands  of  infested  trees  have  been  destroyed  which 

99 


IOO  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

otherwise  would  have  been  sold  and  sent  out  to  carry 
the  insect  to  new  orchards.  Fumigation  has  also  killed 
millions  of  scales  on  infested  trees  and  has  prevented 
their  distribution  among  unsuspecting  tree  buyers.  And 
yet  neither  nursery  inspection  nor  nursery  stock  fumi- 
gation is  perfect,  and  in  spite  of  both  the  scale  has  con- 
tinued to  spread. 

Any  tree  buyer  should  take  every  possible  precaution 
against  introducing  the  San  Jose  scale  into  his 
grounds.  He  should  see  that  the  trees  he  buys  are  ac- 
companied by  a  certificate  of  inspection,  and  he  should 
do  all  he  can  to  learn  that  that  certificate  means 
something.  If  possible,  he  should  have  his  trees 
fumigated.  For  while  improper  fumigation  does 
sometimes  injure  nursery  stock,  proper  fumiga- 
tion is  very  effective  in  killing  scale.  After  both 
these  matters  have  been  duly  attended  to  the  tree 
buyer  will  do  well  to  give  his  trees  a  thorough  inspec- 
tion on  his  own  account.  It  is  fundamentally  necessary 
of  course  that  the  fruit  grower  himself  should  know 
the  scale  when  he  sees  it. 

Yet,  after  all,  the  San  Jose  scale  problem  is  not  one 
of  inspection  nor  of  fumigation,  but  of  fighting  the  in- 
sect in  the  orchard.  In  this  campaign  it  is  best  to  cut 
down  and  burn  a  good  many  old  trees  or  those  very 
badly  infested  before  discovery.  The  battle  is  hard 
enough  anywhere;  but  in  old,  unpruned,  high-topped 
trees  it  is  almost  surely  a  losing  fight.  It  is  important 
that  young  trees  be  headed  low.  The  San  Jose  scale 
has  done  more  than  all  other  agencies  combined  to 
popularize  the  low  heading  of  fruit  trees. 

On  individual  small  trees  the  scale  may  be  killed  by 
fumigating  the  entire  plant  with  hydrocyanic  acid  gas, 


THE   INSECT 


but  this  method  is  so  impracticable  as  a  general  treat- 
ment that  it  need  not  be  described. 

The  only  truly  practicable  method  of  controlling  the 
scale  in  orchard  practice  is  by  spraying;  and  the  cheap- 
est and  most  effective  spray  known  at  this  writing 
(1908)  is  the  lime  sulphur  mixture.  (Formula  on 
page  137.)  Very  thorough  spraying  in  early  spring 
with  well-made  lime-sulphur  spray  is  plainly  the  best 
treatment  to  be  recommended.  In  southern  localities, 
wrhere  there  is  considerable  open  weather  during  the 
winter,  much  of  the  spraying  can  be  done  at  that 
season. 

Next  to  the  lime-sulphur  mixture  the  best  remedy 
for  San  Jose  scale  now  known  in  unquestionably  some 
one  of  the  so-called  "soluble  oils."  These  are  specially 
prepared  petroleum  products,  and  for  the  present  are 
all  sold  under  proprietary  names.  The  most  promi- 
nent for  the  moment  are  Target  Brand,  Scalecide  and 
Kil-o-scale.  These  oils  are  put  into  water,  with  which 
they  mix  more  or  less  perfectly,  and  are  ready  for 
immediate  use.  The  amounts  used  vary  from  I  part  of 
oil  to  10  of  water  down  to  I  part  oil  to  20  of  water. 
Under  favorable  conditions  the  mixture  is  perfect,  but 
in  many  cases  the  oil  is  only  partly  dissolved  in  the 
water.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  plain  that  the 
strength  of  the  solution  will  vary  and  that  the  results 
may  be  seriously  affected.  There  seems  to  be  no  injury 
to  the  trees  when  these  soluble  oils  are  used  during 
the  dormant  season. 

These  oils  have  the  great  advantage  of  being  easy 
to  mix  and  use.  They  do  away  with  many  of  the  most 
disagreeable  features  of  the  lime-sulphur  treatment. 
At  present  prices  they  cost  from  10  to  25  per  cent  more 


IO2\        eft  E-AMERtC'^   APPLE  ORCHARD 


than  the  lime-sulphur  mixture.  There  is  a  slight  dis- 
advantage also  in  the  fact  that  they  do  not  show  on 
the  tree  as  the  lime-sulphur  spray  does.  It  is  much 
harder  therefore  to  determine  when  a  tree  is  perfectly 
sprayed.  If  windy  weather  necessitates  several  turns 
on  each  row  this  difficulty  becomes  really  serious. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  being  introduced 
by  various  experiment  stations  certain  formulas  for 
the  home  preparation  of  oil  sprays.  Enough  experi- 
ence has  already  been  gained  to  show  that  these  will 
probably  equal  the  proprietary  brands  of  soluble  oil 
in  efficiency  when  properly  prepared.  Beyond  this  we 
can  add  only  that  they  have  the  same  advantages  and 
the  same  disadvantages  (except  as  to  cost)  as  the 
proprietary  articles. 

In  a  general  way  it  seems  that  these  oil  sprays  prove 
more  satisfactory  in  the  southern  states  and  less  so  in 
northern  orchards. 

Various  formulas  have  been  recommended  for  self- 
boiling  lime-sulphur  washes,  but  while  they  have  some- 
times been  successful  they  cannot  be  generally  recom- 
mended at  present.  There  have  also  been  put  on  the 
market  several  proprietary  insecticides  for  use  against 
the  San  Jose  scale.  Most  of  these  are  pure  fakes,  and 
none  of  them  seems  to  be  really  worth  while. 

Leaf-Eating  Caterpillars  —  There  are  several  spe- 
cies of  insects  which  feed  on  the  leaves  of  apple  trees. 
A  few  of  these  sometimes  become  sufficiently  numer- 
ous to  cause  serious  damage.  The  two  most  common 
ones  are  the  tent  caterpillar  and  the  fall  web  worm. 
Occasionally  there  are  outbreaks  of  the  forest  tent 
caterpillar  or  other  insects  which  do  very  great  dam- 
age, but  in  most  years  the  injury  to  foliage  by  insects 
is  only  moderate  in  extent  and  is  confined  to  a  few 


THE   INSECT   CAMPAIGN  IO3 

weeks  eating  by  the  species  already  mentioned.  Under 
nearly  all  circumstances  these  leaf-eating  caterpillars 
can  be  killed  by  the  use  of  arsenical  sprays.  The  es- 
sential point  in  meeting  these  attacks  is  that  the  poison 
must  be  given  the  insects  before  they  reach  maturity. 
While  the  caterpillars  are  young,  small  and  tender  a 
very  trifling  dose  of  arsenic  will  end  their  careers.  If 
they  are  three-fourths  grown  much  larger  doses  are 
required  to  kill  them.  Moreover  after  they  have 
reached  maturity  they  are  through  eating.  Their  dam- 
age is  done.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  poison  them 
then  if  we  can.  The  absolute  necessity  of  taking 
these  caterpillars  in  the  first  stages  is  often  overlooked 
by  the  men  who  use  the  spray  remedy. 

Experience  has  shown  that  even  in  the  severest  at- 
tacks of  forest  tent  caterpillar  the  arsenical  sprays  will 
protect  orchards  provided  the  work  is  promptly  and 
vigorously  done,  and  provided  other  conditions  ot 
orchard  management  are  satisfactory.  Some  very 
striking  examples  of  this  sort  have  come  under  the 
writer's  personal  attention. 

Perhaps  a  special  word  should  be  said  regarding  the 
fall  web  worm,  which  is  one  of  the  leaf-eating  insects 
most  frequently  seen  in  the  northeastern  states.  This 
insect  appears  almost  every  autumn,  and  on  account 
of  its  conspicuous  webs  in  the  apple  trees,  makes  a 
comparatively  great  showing.  The  fruit  grower  is  apt 
to  be  unduly  alarmed  because  these  worm  nests  are  so 
conspicuous.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  insects  may  be  much  less  numerous  and  voracious 
than  those  which  make  much  less  show  earlier  in  the 
year.  An  even  more  important  fact  is  that  at  the  time 
the  fall  web  worm  appears  the  apple  tree  has  prac- 
tically completed  its  growth  for  the  season.  The  leaves 


IO4  THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

are  already  drying  and  to  some  extent  falling  from  the 
trees.  The  buds  for  next  year  have  already  been  rip- 
ened. Even  if  large  quantities  of  leaves  are  eaten 
from  the  trees  at  this  time  of  year,  therefore,  the  prac- 
tical damage  is  very  much  less  than  it  would  be  if  a 
similar  defoliation  should  occur  in  early  spring. 

Tree  Borers — There  are  several  different  species  of 
borers  which  attack  the  apple  tree  trunks  and  branches. 
Only  two  of  them,  however,  are  of  any  great  economic 
importance,  namely,  the  flat-headed  and  the  round- 
headed  borers.  The  distinctions  between  these  two 
species  are  not  of  great  practical  consequence.  In  many 
young  orchards  these  insects  do  enormous  damage, 
sometimes  killing  a  large  percentage  of  the  planting 
between  the  ages  of  two  and  ten  years  especially. 

The  presence  of  borers  in  the  apple  trees  can  nearly 
always  be  detected  by  the  chips  thrown  out  by  the 
working  larvae.  These  will  usually  be  found  about  the 
base  of  the  trunk. 

Borers  are  especially  likely  to  injure  trees  standing 
in  grass  or  weeds.  Clean  culture  is  therefore  a  pre- 
ventive, to  a  considerable  degree,  of  this  sort  of  dam- 
age. Application  of  lime,  ashes,  lye  washes  and  other 
caustic  materials  have  some  effect  in  driving  away  the 
borer  or  killing  the  eggs,  but  cannot  be  relied  on  as 
preventives. 

The  most  effective  treatment  of  trees  once  infested, 
and  indeed  the  only  effective  treatment,  is  to  dig  out 
the  larvae  by  hand.  These  worms  eat  into  the  wood 
and  under  the  bark  of  the  trunks  and  can  be  reached 
and  killed  if  one  takes  the  necessary  labor.  A  man 
can  cut  out  a  majority  of  them  by  using  a  sharp  knife. 
Although  some  damage  will  result  to  the  tree  by  this 
sort  of  cutting,  it  will  always  be  less  than  will  result 


THE    INSECT   CAMPAIGN  IO$ 

from  the  continued  work  of  the  insect.  A  strong",  plia- 
ble copper  wire,  however,  is  better  than  a  knife  in  most 
cases ;  and  if  taken  in  combination  with  the  knife' makes 
the  best  set  of  instruments  for  fighting  the  borer.  This 
pliable  copper  wire  can  be  thrust  into  bores  made  by 
the  larvae,  and  will  kill  a  majority  of  them  without 
making  it  .necessary  to  cut  open  the  tree. 

Codling  Moth — This  is  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  widely  distributed  enemies  of  the  apple.  Newly 
settled  districts  have  nearly  always  enjoyed  a  tem- 
porary immunity  from  this  pest,  but  experience  has 
shown  that  the  moth  cannot  long  be  kept  out  of  any 
commercial  apple-gro'wing  district.  Apparently  the 
ravages  of  the  codling  moth  'are  moje  serious  in  cen- 
tral -and  southern  latitudes,  where  two  or  three,  or  even 
as  many  as  four,  broods  are  hatched  in  a  year.  How- 
ever, the  campaign  against  this  inse'ct  is  an  annual  one, 
and  has  to  be  fought  in  practically  all  the  commercial 
orchards  in  the  country. 

The  principal  preventive  of  damage  is  the  spray 
pump,  using  poison  sprays.  Paris  green  is  largely  used 
at  the  present  time,  but  is  being  somewhat  generally 
supplanted  by  lead  arsenate  (see  formulas  on  page 
142).  Thorough  spraying  at  the  right  time  with  these 
insecticides  will  very  greatly  reduce  the  percentage  of 
damage.  Indeed,  in  many  cases  the  work  of  the  insect 
is  practically  eliminated.  As  in  dealing  with  every 
other  insect  or  fungous  pest,  thorough  spraying  at  the 
proper  time  is  highly  essential.  The  proper  time  in 
this  case  is  within  one  week  to  10  days  after  the  fall- 
ing of  the  blossoms.  A  longer  delay  cannot  be  made 
with  safety.  After  about  10  days  the  calyx,  or  blos- 
som leaves  of  the  young  apple,  close  and  the  apple 
turns  to  a  pendant  position.  Before  this  time  the  newly 


IO6  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

set  fruit  stands  erect  with-  the  calyx  lobes  open.  A 
poison  spray  properly  distributed  falls  into  this  calyx 
cup  and  the  poison  lodges  there.  As  many  of  the 
young  larvae  enter  the  apple  by  eating  in  at  this  blos- 
som end  they  secure  with  their  first  meal  a  taste  of 
poison  which  usually  prevents  any  further  apple  eating 
on  their  part. 

Special  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that 
apple  trees  should  not  be  sprayed  while  in  blossom. 
Spraying  at  this  time  is  not  always  totally  without 
value,  but  in  many  instances  it  is  not  only  unnecessary, 
but  even  highly  dangerous,  to  the  crop.  Under  all  cir- 
cumstances it  is  very  likely  to  poison  the  bees  working 
on  the  apple  blossoms.  This  sort  of  damage  is  far 
reaching  in  many  cases ;  and  as  the  bee  is  one  of  the 
fruit  grower's  best  friends  we  cannot  afford  to  murder 
whole  swarms  in  this  way. 

This  early  spraying,  just  after  the  blossoms  fall, 
will  not  usually  -catch  quite  all  the  codling  moth,  even 
all  the  first  brood.  When  the  second  or  third  brood 
hatches  later  in  the  year  a  still  smaller  percentages  can 
be  poisoned  by  the  arsenical  sprays.  Nevertheless  it 
pays  to  give  additional  sprayings  for  this  purpose  in 
case  the  second  and  third  broods  appear  to  be  large. 

In  many  cases  it  seems  to  be  worth  while  to  supple- 
ment spraying  by  the  use  of  bandages  on  the  tree 
trunks.  These  are  made  of  burlap  or  coarse  paper, 
preferably  the  former.  As  a  considerable  number  of 
larvae  descend  the  tree  trunks  seeking  for  a  place  to 
hide  while  they  pass  through  the  change  from  larva 
to  moth — pupation — many  of  them  gather  under  these 
bands  and  can  be  taken  out  and  destroyed. 

It  is  also  important  in  the  campaign  against  the 
codling  moth  to  destroy  all  windfalls  and  inferior  fruit. 


THE   INSECT   CAMPAIGN 

A.  very  large  percentage  of  early  windfalls  are  in- 
fested with  codling  moth,  as  well  as  with  other  in- 
sects. Probably  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of  these  is  to 
allow  hogs  or  sheep  to  run  in  the  orchard.  This  is 
not  always  practicable,  inasmuch  as  apple  trees  loaded 
with  fruit  are  very  tempting  to  hogs  and  sheep.  These 
animals  will  often  pick  considerable  quantities  of  fruit 
from  the  lower  branches  of  the  trees,  or  will  even  in- 
jure the  trees  themselves  by  browsing  the  lower 
branches  or  barking  the  trunks.  Nevertheless,  by  tak- 
ing proper  precautions,  this  sort  of  damage  may  fre- 
quently be  prevented  and  the  sheep  or  hogs  pastured 
in  the  orchard  with  great  advantage,  not  only  to  the 
apples,  but  to  the  animals  as  well. 

Apple  Maggot — The  apple  maggot,  frequently 
called  also  the  railroad  worm,  is  a  comparatively  re- 
cent orchard  pest  in  this  country.  It  is  also  one  of 
the  worst.  It  attacks  some  varieties  with  special  en- 
thusiasm. Indeed,  in  many  localities  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  grow  Tolman  Sweet,  Porter,  Primate, 
Mother  and  certain  other  tender-fleshed  varieties  for 
which  this  insect  has  a  special  taste. 

The  apple  maggot  hatches  from  a  small  fly  which 
deposits  her  egg  just  under  the  skin  of  the  fruit  at 
almost  any  time  during  the  growing  season.  The  little 
worm  hatches,  feeds  about  through  the  flesh  of  the 
apple,  mining  it  in  every  direction,  and  making  it 
practically  unfit  for  human  food.  There  are  often 
large  numbers  of  these  small  maggots  in  a  single 
fruit.  Apples  attacked  in  this  way  show  a  peculiar 
pitting  on  the  outside  something  remotely  like  small- 
pox pits.  Inside  the  fruit  will  be  found  discolored, 
thread-like  traces  of  the  course  followed  by  the  mag- 
gots. Sometimes  the  flesh  is  punky  or  corky. 


IO8  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

This  insect  is  peculiarly  difficult  to  fight.  It  cannot 
be  poisoned,  as  it  does  not  eat  any  of  the  external  por- 
tions of  the  tree  or  fruit  at  any  time  during  its  exist- 
ence. There  has  been  found  no  effective  method  of 
keeping  the  fly  from  laying  her  eggs  in  the  fruit. 
About  the  only  practical  method  of  checking  the  work 
of  this  insect  is  to  clean  up  and  destroy  very  thor- 
oughly all  windfalls,  dropped  fruit  and  seconds  of 
every  sort.  Nothing  is  so  effective  for  this  purpose  as 
a  flock  of  sheep  or  a  herd  of  swine.  The  difficulties 
and  advantages  of  fighting  insects  by  these  means  has 
been  discussed  in  the  paragraph  on  codling  moth. 

The  Curculio,  which  really  should  confine  its  atten- 
tion to  the  stone  fruits,  frequently  attacks  the  apple. 
At  such  times  the  damage  is  likely  to  be  serious.  The 
young  fruits  are  punctured  on  the  sides,  and  though 
the  larvae  or  small  worms  seldom  hatch  and  work  into 
the  apple,  the  fruit  grows  one-sided  or  warty  from 
the  effects  of  these  punctures.  This  injury  seems  to 
be  especially  common  in  the  states  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  though  the  writer  has  seen  serious  cases  of  it 
in  New  England  and  Quebec. 

The  insect  usually  responsible  for  this  work  is  the 
ordinary  plum  curculio;  though  there  is  another  spe- 
cies which  is  sometimes  called 'the  apple  or  quince  cur- 
culio, which  also  does  considerable  damage  at  times. 

Any  of  the  curculio  working  on  apples  may  be  prac- 
tically kept  at  bay  by  proper  application  of  arsenical 
poisons.  Paris  green,  arsenate  of  lead  or  disparene, 
used  as  recommended  for  general  orchard  practice,  will 
almost  completely  prevent  the  injury. 

Oyster  Shell  Bark  Louse— The  little  animal  which 
commonly  receives  this  name  is  one  of  the  scale  in- 
sects, and  one  of  the  most  common  and  destructive  of 


THE   INSECT   CAMPAIGN  I(X) 

its  kind.  It  is  found  everywhere,  but  especially  in  the 
northeastern  states  and  provinces  of  Canada.  It  is 
larger  than  most  scale  insects  and  of  an  irregular  ob- 
long form,  which  enables  one  to  distinguish  it  readily 
from  the  little  round  black  pimple  known  as  the  San 
Jose  scale.  It  is  found  especially  on  old  apple  trees, 
but  may  be  found  in  some  cases  on  young  trees  the 
first  year  from  the  nursery.  The  damage  wrought  by 
the  oyster  shell  scale  is  much  less  severe  and  summary 
than  that  which  comes  from  the  San  Jose  scale,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  very  serious.  In  many  cases  it  prac- 
tically kills  trees  or  even  entire  orchards.  In  this, 
however,  it  is  nearly  always  assisted  by  the  systematic 
neglect  of  the  owner,  for  the  oyster  shell  scale  is  sel- 
dom very  serious  on  orchards  well  cared  for. 

Almost  any  thorough  sort  of  spraying  will  check 
the  increase  of  the  oyster  shell  scale  or  drive  it  out 
entirely.  Even  bordeaux  mixture  contains  enough 
lime  to  make  this  insect  very  unhappy,  and  its  con- 
tinued use  is  incompatible  with  the  increase  of  scale. 
It  has  been  discovered  that  pure  lime  whitewash 
sprayed  on  the  trees  in  fall  or  midwinter  will  prac- 
tically clean  out  the  oyster  shell  scale.  Any  alkaline 
wash  will  serve  the  same  purpose  more  or  less  effect- 
ively according  to  its  composition  and  the  methods  of 
its  application.  One  pound  of  concentrated  lye  or 
crude  potash  dissolved  in  5  gallons  of  water  will  do 
the  work  thoroughly.  The  lime-sulphur  spray  recom- 
mended for  San  Jose  scale  will  answer  admirably  for 
the  oyster  shell  scale  also;  but  if  the  latter  insect 
alone  has  to  be  fought  milder  weapons  will  do  as  well. 

In  giving  treatment  for  any  sort  of  scale  insect  a 
preparatory  course  of  pruning  and  scraping  is  very 
important.  In  the  campaign  to  dislodge  the  oyster 


IIO  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

shell  from  old  apple  trees  this  preliminary  work  is  in- 
dispensable. Old  shaggy  bark  must  be  scraped  off. 
For  this  purpose  a  tool  may  be  made  of  an  old  hoe. 
The  handle  should  be  shortened  to  16  inches  and  the 
blade  sharpened.  A  better  tool,  which  can  be  bought 
ready  made  or  made  by  any  handy  blacksmith,  has  a 
triangular  blade,  about  3^  inches  on  each  edge,  with 
a  14-inch  handle  in  the  center.  After  scraping  the 
trees  should  be  well  pruned.  This  subject  is  discussed 
in  detail  under  the  renovation  of  old  orchards,  which 
see. 


XII 

THE  PRINCIPAL  DISEASES 

THERE  are  many  diseases  which  attack  the  apple 
tree  or  fruit,  but  as  far  as  the  practical  business  of 
fighting  them  is  concerned  only  three  or  four  need  be 
seriously  considered.  The  most  destructive  of  these 
are  caused  by  fungi.  These  fungi  are  very  small 
plants,  usually  so  small  that  a  high-power  microscope 
is  required  to  see  them.  However,  they  make  up  in 
numbers  for  what  they  lack  in  size.  They  are  parasites, 
living  on  the  apple  tree,  foliage  or  fruit,  and  taking 
the  nourishment  which  the  fruit  grower  never  in- 
tended for  them. 

These  fungi  are  usually  distributed  by  means  of 
spores,  which  take  the  place  of  seeds,  but  are  thousands 
of  times  smaller  than  even  the  proverbial  mustard  seed. 
These  spores  are  usually  carried  by  the  wind,  and  they 
usually  lodge  in  the  rough  bark  or  on  the  rough  bud 
scales  of  the  apple  trees.  They  can  be  killed  most  easily 
just  at  the  moment  when  they  germinate,  and  the  best 
thing  for  killing  them  is  some  form  of  copper  solution. 
Here  is  where  the  copper  sulphate  of  bordeaux  mixture 
comes  in.  As  soon  as  the  spores  germinate  the  fungous 
plant  which  grows  from  them  penetrates  into  the  tis- 
sues of  the  apple  bud,  twig  or  leaf,  and  is  then  quite 
out  of  reach  of 'any  remedy. 

While  every  disease  has  its  own  specific  fungus  and 
Behaves  in  its  own  peculiar  way,  this  general  statement 
fairly  covers  the  case  for  all  our  common  fungous  dis- 
eases. A  brief  consideration  of  the  facts  here  recited 

111 


112  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

will  lead  to  a  few  inferences  of  considerable  practical 
importance. 

1.  All  spraying  must  be  preventive.    The    fungus 
must  be  killed  in  the  spore  stage.     There  is  no  such 
thing  as  curing  a  fungous  disease. 

2.  Early  spraying  does  the  most  good.    After  the 
spores  have  germinated  and  the  fungus  has  gained  en- 
trance to  the  plant,  spraying  does  no  good.    Late  spray- 
ings are  useful  only  in  killing  later  crops  of  spores, 
but  as  a  rule  these  are  comparatively  unimportant. 

3.  Spraying  must  cover  the  entire  tree.    A  fungous 
spore  is  less  than  the  ten-thousandth  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter, but  the  copper  sulphate  has  to  touch  it  to  kill 
it. 

Scab  or  Black  Spot — The  apple  scab  is  the  worst 
disease  which  the  orchardist  has  to  meet.  It  is  the  most 
widespread,  and  on  the  whole  the  most  destructive.  It 
does  great  damage  to  the  foliage  in  some  cases,  though 
it  is  more  conspicuous  on  the  fruit.  The  leaves  when 
attacked  by  scab  show  irregular  browned  patches  of 
dead  tissue.  Sometimes  these  are  so  abundant  as  to 
give  the  whole  tree  a  half  burnt  appearance.  On  the 
fruit  the  fungus  causes  black  patches,  which  sometimes 
crack  open,  making  the  fruit  unsightly  and  unsalable. 
Different  varieties  are  susceptible  in  differing  degrees 
to  the  attacks  of  scab  fungus.  Fameuse,  Mclntosh  and 
all  apples  of  that  type  are  especially  subject  to  injury. 

The  scab,  once  established  on  a  tree,  works  in  the 
small  twigs  and  throughout  the  growing  tissues.  It 
also  continues  to  develop  in  the  fruit  after  picking,  so 
that  fruit  put  into  storage  in  reasonably  good  condition 
but  affected  with  scab  will  deteriorate  rapidly,  espe- 
cially if  the  storage  room  is  warm. 


THE   PRINCIPAL  DISEASES  113 

Fortunately  the  scab  fungus  is  comparatively  easy  to 
fight.  At  least  it  is  in  most  years.  There  are  occa- 
sional seasons  when  it  seems  to  be  epidemic  and  beyond 
control.  Under  all  ordinary  circumstances  thorough 
and  timely  applications  of  bordeaux  mixture  will  en- 
tirely subdue  it.  The  most  useful  application,  however, 
is  the  dose  of  plain  copper  sulphate  solution  given  just 
before  the  buds  open.  At  that  time  the  spores  are  rest- 
ing on  the  apple  buds,  and  this  is  just  where,  a  few 
days  later  at  budding  time,  the  most  serious  fungous 
invasion  occurs.  Later  applications  of  bordeaux  serve 
to  check  the  spread  of  the  fungus. 

Apple  Tree  Canker — The  apple  tree  canker  has  only 
recently  been  recognized  as  a  serious  disease.  Even  yet 
it  is  not  present  in  all  orchards  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
cause  much  damage.  Young  orchards  and  sections 
where  apple  growing  is  a  new  industry  are  apt  to  be 
comparatively  free.  But  in  nearly  all  old  orchards 
there  is  an  abundance  of  canker,  and  in  the  old  apple- 
growing  sections,  where  neglected  apple  trees  are  as 
common  as  flies  in  a  country  hotel,  the  canker  is  a  well- 
established  and  ever-present  menace  to  the  business. 

The  canker  appears  in  the  form  of  large  patches  of 
dead  bark,  more  frequently  in  the  crotches.  Sometimes, 
however,  small  canker  spots  can  be  seen  on  young 
branches.  As  the  canker  eats  in  during  the  course  of 
two  or  three  years,  the  bark  peels  off,  leaving  patches 
of  exposed  wood.  These  are  rough,  and  the  edges  are 
black,  and  more  or  less  wrinkled.  This  wrinkling  along 
the  margins  of  the  canker  spots  is  particularly  striking 
in  cases  of  long  standing,  where  it  is  emphasized  by  the 
successive  annual  attempts  of  the  tree  to  cover  in,  and 
heal  the  canker  sore. 


114  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

Sometimes  the  canker  appears  about  the  base  of  the 
tree.  In  this  form  it  is  sometimes  called  collar  rot. 
There  are  certainly  several  diseases,  closely  related, 
caused  by  different  fungi,  which  may  all  be  roughly 
grouped  under  the  name  of  canker. 

Different  varieties  of  trees  differ  greatly  in  their  sus- 
ceptibility to  canker.  Tompkins  King  is  especially  vul- 
nerable. Esopus  Spitzenberg  is  another.  Spy  and  Tol- 
man  are  practically  immune.  In  view  of  such  facts 
some  enterprising  growers  are  adopting  the  practice  of 
top-working  varieties  like  King  on  trees  like  Spy.  The 
tree  which  is  used  for  top-working  in  this  way  should 
be  allowed  to  form  a  good  head  before  regrafting  in 
order  that  the  crotches  may  be  sound  and  free  from 
cankers. 

Pruning  and  spraying  with  general  good  treatment 
is  the  preventive,  and  to  some  extent  a  practical 
remedy,  for  canker.  The  cankered  branches  should  be 
cut  out  and  burned,  as  far  as  possible.  Where  there 
are  large  branches  which  cannot  be  spared  but  which 
have  canker  spots,  these  spots  should  be  scraped,  pared 
down  to  healthy  wood  and  painted  with  a  heavy  coat 
of  thick  white  lead  paint.  Thorough  spraying  with 
bordeaux  kills  the  spores  of  the  canker  fungi ;  and  an 
orchard  carefully  sprayed  every  year,  a'fe  spraying  is 
done  for  the  scab  fungus,  will  never  suffer  from 
canker,  unless  it  be  under  the  most  exceptional  circum- 
stances. 

Bitter  Rot — The  same  fungus  which  causes  one 
form  of  canker  causes  also  a  disease  of  the  fruit, 
known  as  bitter  rot.  This  disease  is  very  destructive 
some  years  in  certain  localities,  especially  in  southern 
Illinois  and  Missouri.  In  this  neighborhood  the  entire 
crop  is.  occasionally  ruined.  The  rot  appears  on  the 


THE    PRINCIPAL   DISEASES  11$ 

fruit  in  the  form  of  circular  black  spots  with  granular 
surface,  and  with  fine  concentric  rings  at  the  margins. 
It  spreads  rapidly,  even  after  the  fruit  is  picked;  and 
when  it  is  first  seen  the  time  for  fighting  the  disease 
has  usually  gone  by. 

Like  all  the  other  true  fungous  diseases  the  bitter  rot 
can  be  controlled  by  bordeaux  mixture  if  applications 
are  timely  and  thorough.  The  regular  program  of 
spraying — that  is,  three  applications  of  bordeaux  in 
spring — will  serve  to  check  the  bitter  rot,  and  in  some 
seasons  will  afford  sufficient  protection.  This  disease 
has  been  very  thoroughly  studied  at  the  Illinois  experi- 
ment station,  and  Prof.  J.  C.  Blair  gives  the  following 
advice  as  to  its  treatment : 

"  I.  In  addition  to  the  three  early  sprayings  for  apple 
scab  and  codling  moth  make  applications  of  bordeaux 
at  intervals  of  ten  days,  commencing  the  third  week  in 
June,  making  the  final  application  on  the  date  of  the 
first  discovery  of  bitter  rot.  In  case  bitter  rot  fails  to 
appear  before  the  first  of  August,  the  applications 
should  be  continued  up  to  the  end  of  July,  making  in 
all  four  to  five  applications.  In  most  seasons  three 
sprayings  with  standard  bordeaux  mixture,  one  ap- 
plied the  last  week  in  June  and  the  two  following  at 
intervals  of  ten  days,  are  sufficient  to  control  the  dis- 
ease, but  on  account  of  the  irregularity  in  the  time 
of  infection  in  different  seasons,  this  practice  is  not 
wholly  safe  and  the  extra  treatments  are  recommended 
as  a  wise  precaution. 

"  2.  In  case  the  precautionary  sprayings  above 
recommended  are  not  given,  the  most  thorough  spray- 
ings to  coat  the  fruit  completely  with  bordeaux  mix- 
ture should  be  made  immediately  upon  the  first 
discovery  of  an.  infected  apple.  Failure  to  spray 
promptly  at  this  time  will  result,  in  a  season  favorable 


Il6  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

to  the  development  of  the  disease,  in  almost  complete 
destruction  of  the  crop. 

"  3.  Mummied  apples  which  remain  upon  the  trees 
after  the  leaves  have  dropped  in  the  fall  should  be 
picked  off  and  destroyed  in  order  to  do  away  with  this 
source  of  infection  during  the  following  summer. 

"  4.  Bitter  rot  -cankers  upon  the  branches  of  the 
trees,  a  second  source  of  infection,  should  be  cut  off 
and  burned,  the  limb  being  cut  a  few  inches  below 
the  cankered  spot.  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  cause 
fresh  bruises  in  the  bark  of  other  branches  while  this 
operation  is  being  performed,  and  the  pruning  tools 
should  not  be  allowed  to  touch  the  cankers  for  fear 
of  carrying  the  infection  to  the  freshly  cut  surfaces 
below  the  diseased  bark" 

Professor  Blair  is  very  certain  that  thorough  spray- 
ing for  bitter  rot  pays  in  Illinois.  His  advice,  of 
course,  applies  with  equal  force  in  all  sections  where 
the  rot  is  prevalent. 

The  Apple  Scald — This  disease  has  proved  very  se- 
rious in  recent  years,  •manifesting  itself  particularly  in 
the  storage  houses.  It  appears  on  the  fruit  at  any  time 
during  the  winter,  causing  it  to  show  a  baked  or  scalded 
appearance.  Though  the  disease  attacks  only  the  sur- 
face of  the  fruit,  and  does  not  itself  injure  the  culinary 
quality,  it  usually  opens  the  way  for  other  agencies  of 
decay,  so  that  when  the  fruit  shows  scald  it  is  on  the 
way  to  rapid  deterioration.  In  fact  the  appearance  of 
the  fruit  is  so  much  injured  by  the  scald  itself  that  it  is 
made  more  or  less  unsalable,  sometimes  entirely  so. 

The  cause  of  the  disease  is  very  obscure.  It  is  not 
a  fungus,  nor  even  a  bacterium,  but  is  thought  to  be  an 
even  more  obscure  agent,  which  the  chemists  call  an 
enzym.  It  can  be  most  closely  compared  to  the  trypsin 
and  pancreatin  of  the  stomach  and  intestines  which 


THE    PRINCIPAL   DISEASES  1 1? 

digest  the  food  we  eat.    A  disease  of  apples  due  to  such 
a  cause  is  obviously  hard  to  treat. 

Different  varieties  show  very  different  degrees  of 
susceptibility  to  scald.  Rhode  Island  Greening  is  the 
most  notable  among  standard  commercial  varieties  in 
its  tendency  to  show  this  trouble,  but  other  sorts 
suffer  almost  equal  damage.  In  the  storage  experi- 
ments of  Mr.  G.  Harold  Powell,  the  following 
varieties  were  found  to  be  seriously  affected  by 
scald : 

Arctic,  Nero, 

Arkansas,  Paragon, 

Baldwin,  Rhode  Island  Greening, 

Ben  Davis,  Smith  Cider, 

Gilpin,  Stayman  Winesap, 

Grimes,  Wagener, 

Huntsman,  Winesap, 

Lankford,  York  Imperial. 

Scald  also  varies  greatly  with  other  conditions,  such 
as  the  ripeness  of  the  fruit,  temperature  of  storage,  etc. 
Some  of  the  more  important  of  these  conditions  may  be 
summarized  as  follows: 

/.  Maturity  of  the  fruit. — Thoroughly  mature, 
well-colored  fruit  suffers  less  than  fruit  picked  green 
or  underripe.  However,  as  ripening  progresses  in  stor- 
age, scald  increases. 

2.  Methods  of  handling  between  picking  and  stor- 
age.— Immediate  storage  gives  least  scald,  while  any 
delay  in  storage  will  show  proportionate  increase  in 
scald. 

j.  Temperature. —  A  storage  temperature  of  31°- 
32°  proves  best  for  practically  all  varieties. 

Mr.  Powell's  own  suggestions,  made  on  the  basis 
of  his  experiments,  are  that  "from  the  practical 


Il8  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

standpoint  the  scald  may  be  prevented  to  the 
greatest  extent  by  producing  highly  colored,  well- 
developed  fruit,  by  storing  it  as  soon  as  it  is 
picked  in  a  temperature  of  3i°-32°,  by  removing  it 
from  storage  while  it  is  still  free  from  scald,  and  by 
holding  it  after  .removal  at  the  coolest  possible 
temperature." 


XIII 

OTHER  TROUBLES 

SPRAYING  is  not  exactly  a  universal  reliance  in  the 
care  of  fruit  trees,  for  the  reason  that  there  are  some 
sorts  of  damage  caused  by  other  agencies  than  fungi 
and  insects.  A  few  words  on  the  more  common 
troubles  should  be  entered  here. 

Blight — Fire  blight,  or  twig  blight,  is  a  disease  of 
bacterial  origin ;  and  as  the  bacteria  which  cause  all  the 
trouble  circulate  in  the  sap  of  the  tree  they  cannot  be 
reached  by  sprays.  These  bacteria  are  carried  from  tree 
to  tree  by  various  insects,  sometimes  by  bees ;  but  there 
seems  to  be  no  practicable  way  of  preventing  their  dis- 
semination. It  is  well  known  that  the  blight  is 
worst  on  young  trees,  making  a  rank,  soft  growth; 
and  this  fact  suggests  a  preventive  in  such  forms 
of  culture  and  fertilizing  as  do  not  produce  rank 
growth.  Where  blight  is  bad  it  may  be  best  to 
stop  the  cultivation  of  the  orchard  for  a  year  or 
two.  The  free  use  of  nitrogenous  fertilizers,  such 
as  barnyard  manure,  which  is  seldom  to  be  recom- 
mended, is  especially  to  be  discouraged  in  times 
when  blight  is  prevalent. 

The  weather  has  a  striking  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  blight.  Hot,  moist,  muggy  weather  in  July 
or  August  is  always  favorable  to  it.  At  such  times  the 
new  growth  will  be  struck  and  withered  in  a  day  or 
two,  leaving  the  tree  burnt  and  blackened  as  though 
burnt  over  by  a  scorching  fire.  Hence  the  name  fire 
blight. 

119 


I2O  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

After  the  blight  has  struck  a  tree  or  an  orchard  there 
is  little  that  can  be  done  by  way  of  immediate  relief  or 
to  check  its  present  spread.  The  pruning  knife,  which 
is  the  main  dependence,  cannot  be  used  to  much  advan- 
tage at  the  moment.  Nevertheless  the  removal  of  the 
blighted  wood  is  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done,  and 
if"  this  can  be  accomplished  before  growth  ceases  in 
the  summer  so  much  the  better. 

The  dead  wood  can  be  recognized  during  the  winter 
by  the  shriveled  and  blackened  bark,  and  can  be 
pruned  out  at  any  time.  But  heavy  pruning  during  the 
dormant  season— October  to  April — is  apt  to  start  the 
trees  to  the  production  of  a  lot  of  soft  growth,  water- 
sprouts,  etc.,  which  growth  is  especially  vulnerable  to 
the  attacks  of  blight.  So  that  the  pruning,  designed  to 
check  the  ravages  of  the  blight,  becomes  the  means  of 
keeping  it  going.  Nevertheless  pruning  should  always 
be  done  because  the  blight  spreads  from  the  blighted 
portions  of  the  tree  to  the  sound  portions.  The  blighted 
parts  should  be  cut  out  and  burned  as  soon  as  may  be. 
The  burning  of  the  prunings  is  highly  important. 

Sun  Scald — This  form  of  damage  is  very  common 
in  some  localities,  so  common,  in  fact,  that  a  tree  which 
escapes  it  is  a  rarity.  This  sun  scald,  which  has  the 
appearance  of  being  caused  by  the  burning  of  the  sun, 
occurs  in  reality  during  the  winter  when  the  snow  is  on 
the  ground.  The  greater  part  of  the  damage  occurs  in 
late  winter,  or  during  the  warm  spring  days  when  the 
snow  is  going  off.  During  the  warm  afternoons  the 
sun,  reflected  from  the  snow  against  the  southwest  sides 
of  the  tree  trunks,  becomes  very  warm.  The  trunks  are 
thoroughly  warmed  on  that  side.  They  are  thawed  out, 
and  the  bark  becomes  soft,  sappy  and  pliable.  Then 
when  the  sun  goes  down  and  the  temperature  falls 


OTHER   TROUBLES  121 

again  to  zero,  the  bark  is  again  frozen  tight  as  a  drum. 
The  next  day  the  same  thing  happens,  and  so  day  after 
day  the  young  bark  freezes  ana  thaws,  and  by  this 
means  is  torn  to  shreds.  When  spring  arrives  the  bark 
is  killed  and  broken  open.  Then  various  kinds  of  fungi 
get  in  and  the  damage  which  begins  by  freezing 
and  thawing  ends  with  spread  of  canker  and  other 
troubles  all  round  the  trunk  of  the  tree. 

The  best  preventives  of  sun  scald  are  low  heads  and 
veneer  protectors.  High-headed  trees,  which  are  of 
doubtful  value  anywhere,  are  altogether  inadmissible  in 
places  where  sun  scald  is  bad.  The  protectors  of 
newspaper  or  wood  veneer  recommended  below 
for  mice  and  rabbits  will  also  give  practical  im- 
munity from  sun  scald.  This  trouble  is  a  very 
serious  one.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  entire 
young  orchards  ruined  by  it.  In  sections  where 
this  trouble  is  prevalent  great  pains  should  be 
taken  to  protect  young  orchards  from  it. 

Mice  and  Rabbits,  in  some  sections,  do  great  dam- 
age, particularly  to  young  trees  during  the  winter. 
Rabbits  can  usually  be  thinned  out  by  shooting  and 
trapping,  but  the  mice  must  be  circumvented  by  other 
means.  In  small  and  newly  planted  orchards  the  dam- 
age by  mice  may  be  generally  prevented  by  tramping 
down  the  snow  around  the  trees  after  each  snowfall. 
The  mice  work  under  the  snow,  and  this  tramping 
spoils  their  field  of  operations. 

As  a  general  rule,  however,  the  cheapest  and  safest 
protection  is  secured  by  wrapping  the  trunks  of 
young  trees  with  some  defensive  material,  such  as 
paper,  wood  veneer,  or  corn  stalks.  Cornstalks  will 
sometimes  serve  where  they  are  to  be  had  abun- 
dantly and  in  good  condition  from  the  feed 


122  ,  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

yards  where  cattle  are  fed  on  whole  corn  fodder. 
But  they  are  troublesome  to  put  on  and  not  so 
safe  as  other  protectors,  and  are  therefore  not  to 
be  recommended.  Newspapers  wrapped  round  the 
trunks  and  tied  with  soft  twine  make  an  excellent 
protection.  They  are  cheap,  easy  to  put  on,  and 
effective. 

Probably  the  best  of  all  protection  is  afforded  by  the 
strips  of  thin  wood  veneer  got  out  by  various  manu- 
facturers especially  for  this  purpose.  This  veneer  is  a 
little  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  and  is  cut  in 
pieces  about  8  inches  wide  by  24  inches  long.  In  so^ne 
cases  the  lower  end  is  tarred.  These  strips  cost  about 
$5  a  thousand,  or  less  in  large  quantities.  They  will 
last  for  several  years. 

One  of  these  strips  of  thin  wood  is  wrapped  round 
the  trunk  of  the  young  tree,  and  tied  with  a  strong 
string.  Sometimes  they  are  treated  so  as  to  give  them 
a  permanent  curve,  and  then  each  protector  holds  its 
own  place  without  tying.  As  a  rule  the  protectors 
should  be  removed  every  spring  and  replaced  in  the 
fall.  These  wood  or  paper  protectors  not  only  prevent 
damage  by  mice  or  rabbits,  but  also  prevent  sun  scald. 


XIV 

SPRAYING  MACHINERY 

THE  question  is  often  asked :  What  is  the  best  spray 
pump?  Such  a  question  cannot  be  answered.  Even 
when  the  requirements  are  somewhat  definitely  known 
no  one  can  truthfully  say  that  one  make  of  pump  is 
better  than  all  the  others.  In  fact,  a  good  nozzle,  con- 
veniently rigged  to  a  well-made  cylinder  makes  a  good 
spray  outfit.  The  particular  pattern  or  maker's  name 
is  of  small  consequence.  It  may  be  said  at  the  outset 
that  hand  pumps  are  most  practicable  for  small  planta- 
tions. Anyone  with  less  than  200  mature  apple  trees 
will  hardly  need  a  power  sprayer.  For  any  undertak- 
ing larger  than  200  mature  trees,  however,  some  form 
of  power  machine  will  prove  an  economy. 

Of  the  hand  pumps  there  are  all  kinds,  but  they  may 
be  somewhat  arbitrarily  divided  into  two  general  types. 
The  first  would  include  the  small  single-acting  pumps 
mounted  on  a  barrel ;  the  second  would  include  larger 
pumps,  usually  double-acting,  and  usually  mounted  on 
larger  tanks.  The  barrel  pump,  which  is  the  smallest 
and  cheapest  practical  outfit  for  effective  spraying,  can 
be  conveniently  loaded  into  any  wagon.  Preferably  it 
is  placed  on  a  low-down  truck.  It  can  even  be  hauled 
about  on  a  stone  boat.  If  some  tank  larger  than  a  bar- 
rel is  required,  it  is  best  to  buy  one  of  the  ready-made 
sort  put  out  by  leading  dealers.  These  tanks  usually 
hold  200  gallons,  and  cost  $18  to  $20.  The  common 
form  is  semi-cylindrical,  with  the  flat  side  uppermost, 
making  a  convenient  place  for  mounting  the  pump. 

123 


124 


SPRAYING   MACHINERY  125 

A  word  should  be  said  about  agitators.  In  most  of 
the  barrel  machines,  as  they  come  from  the  factory, 
there  is  some  sort  of  mechanical  agitator  to  keep  the 
spray  mixture  stirred  up.  In  larger  machines  the  stir- 
ring is  accomplished  by  pumping  back  into  the  tank  a 
portion*  of  the  liquid  taken  through  the  pump.  This 
agitation  is  important,  especially  with  bordeaux  mix- 
ture. On  rough  ground,  however,  especially  where 
trees  are  small,  and  there  is  much  driving  from  tree  to 
tree,  the  shaking  of  the  wagon  may  give  all  the  agita- 
tion necessary.  The  presence  of  any  considerable  sedi- 
ment in  the  bottom  cf  the  tank  after  pumping  out  a 
tankful  of  mixture  indicates  that  more  thorough  stir- 
ring is  needed.  Of  course,  it  may,  and  probably  does, 
indicate  also  that  the  mixture  is  improperly  made ;  but 
the  poorer  the  original  mixture  the  greater  the  demand 
for  vigorous  stirring. 

With  respect  to  pumps  in  general  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  cylinder  is  the  vital  organ.  This  should 
be  perfectly  smooth  and  true,  and  should  be  lined  with 
brass  or  other  non-corrosive  material.  Brass  is  the 
material  now  most  in  use.  All  the  other  linings  of 
connecting  working  parts  which  come  in  contact  with 
the  liquids  should  also  be  of  brass.  The  nozzles  are 
practically  always  of  brass. 

Power  Sprayers — Coming  now  to  the  power  spray- 
ers, in  which  the  force  is  supplied  from  some  other 
source  than  human  muscle,  we  find  three  general  types 
in  common  use.  These  are:  (i)  traction  sprayers,  (2) 
engine  or  motor  sprayers,  and  (3)  those  which  operate 
from  air  or  gas  pressure.  It  may  be  said  at  once  that 
any  form  of  power  sprayer,  properly  operated  within 
the  scope  of  its  adaptabilities,  will  give  much  better 
results  than  hand  power.  Experience  shows  that  the 


126  THE  AMERICAN  APPLE  ORCHARD 

hand  pump  gives  a  very  variable  pressure  on  the  liquid, 
running  from  125  pounds  down  to  nothing,  and  seldom 
averaging  over  50  or  60  pounds.  With  any  sort  of 
power  sprayer,  properly  managed,  a  pressure  of  100 
pounds  or  upwards  is  easily  maintained.  With  some 
machines  this  pressure,  say  of  100  or  125  pounds,  as 
desired,  can  be  kept  up  very  steadily  for  hour  after 
hour,  with  practically  no  variation.  In  order  to  do  any 
sort  of  effective  spraying  a  pressure  of  65  pounds  or 
over  is  essential,  about  100  pounds  being  the  most 
practicable  figure. 

Traction  Spray  Machines — A  good  example  of  the 
first  type  of  power  sprayer,  the  traction  machine,  is 
the  Wallace  pump.  This  machine  takes  its  power 
from  the  motion  of  the  wagon  wheel,  which  is  pro- 
vided with  heavy  lugs  for  that  purpose,  and  is  com- 
municated to  the  pump  by  a  sprocket  chain  and 
wheels.  While  the  wagon  is  in  motion  this  power  is 
stored  by  compressing  air  into  a  large  air  chamber; 
and  this  compressed  air  forces  out  the  liquid  for 
several  minutes  after  the  wagon  stops.  The  air 
chamber  and  the  pumps  are  connected  with  a  bar- 
rel mounted  on  the  same  truck;  or  better  still  the 
whole  machine  is  mounted  on  a  large  special  tank 
holding  200  or  300  gallons  of  mixture. 

In  our  experience  it  is  not  practicable  to  operate  a 
traction  sprayer  at  a  pressure  of  more  than  about  80 
pounds.  This  pressure  goes  down  slowly  as  soon  as 
the  wagon  stops,  but  will  not  go  below  65  pounds  in 
less  than  2  or  3  minutes  in  operating  two  gangs  of 
vermorel  nozzles.  In  young  orchards  where  the  trees 
are  small,  and  on  comparatively  level  land,  and  where 
the  most  thorough  spraying  is  not  required,  the  trac- 
tion machines  seem  to  be  worth  while.  When  any  one 


SPRAYING   MACHINERY  127 

of  these  three  conditions  is  absent,  however,  as  when 
trees  are  large,  the  ground  rough,  or  very  careful  work 
is  necessary,  some  other  form  of  power  is  better. 

Engine  Power  Sprayers — Steam  engines  have  occa- 
sionally been  used  in  spraying.  As  a  rule  they  are  not 
to  be  recommended.  Still  occasionally  there  is  a  farm 
on  which  a  small  steam  engine  is  already  owned,  and 
where  the  men  know  how  to  manage  it.  Where  the 
land  is  reasonably  smooth,  and  a  fairly  light  mount 
can  be  secured,  the  steam  engine  may  prpve  satisfac- 
tory. 

Gasoline  motors  come  more  nearly  meeting  the  spe- 
cial requirements  of  the  apple  grower  who  wants  to 
spray  his  trees.  There  are  several  manufacturers  who 
are  putting  such  outfits  on  the  market.  Each  machine 
consists  of  a  gasoline  motor,  of  about  two  to  three 
horse  power,  more  or  less  conveniently  mounted  on  a 
truck  with  a  two-hundred  gallon  tank.  The  gasoline 
engine  or  motor  is  comparatively  simple  and  easy  of 
management,  so  that  a  really  intelligent  farm  hand  can 
usually  make  friends  with  it.  It  may  as  well  be  ac- 
cepted at  the  beginning  of  things  that  an  ignorant  and 
heedless  hired  man  cannot  manage  a  spray  outfit. 
The  gasoline  motor  has  one  practical  advantage  which 
strongly  commends  it  to  many  farmers ;  viz.,  it  can  be 
used  for  many  other  purposes  when  the  spraying  is 
not  going  on.  It  will  saw  wood,  cut  silage,  pump 
water  or  run  the  milking  machine. 

Compressed  Air  Sprayers — In  this  form  of  machine 
two  air-tight  metal  cylinders  or  tanks  are  mounted  side 
by  side  on  the  truck.  One  of  these  cylinders  holds  the 
spray  liquid ;  the  other  is  charged  with  compressed  air. 
In  order  to  charge  this  cylinder  some  stationary  form 
of  power  is  required,  as  a  horse  power,  water  power, 


128 


SPRAYING  MACHINERY  12$ 

or  a  gasoline  engine.  A  special  air  pump  is  installed 
and  connected  with  the  horse  power  or  gasoline  en- 
gine, and  this  pump  forces  the  air  into  the  air  cylinder 
of  the  spray  machine  up  to  any  reasonable  pressure. 
About  200  pounds  is  the  practical  limit.  The  air  cyl- 
inder is  connected  with  the  liquid  cylinder  by  means  of 
suitable  cocks.  By  opening  these  the  liquid  is  blown 
out  and  through  the  nozzles  onto  the  trees.  The  pres- 
sure goes  down  slowly  during  the  process  of  discharg- 
ing the  liquid ;  but  when  properly  managed  does  not 
fall  so  low  as  seriously  to  impair  the  results. 

Perhaps  the  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  popu- 
larity of  the  compressed  air  sprayers  is  the  cost  of  in- 
stalling the  original  power  plant.  This  is  said  to  be 
about  $250,  though  it  varies,  of  course,  with  circum- 
stances. On  farms  where  a  reliable  source  of  power, 
as  a  gasoline  engine,  is  already  established,  the 
cost  is  much  less;  and  under  such  circumstances 
the  claims  of  the  compressed  air  machines  should 
be  carefully  considered  before  buying  any  new 
outfits.  The  power  is  very  cheap,  once  the  ma- 
chinery is  installed,  and  the  outfit  is  light  and 
easily  hauled  through  the  orchard. 

Gas  Power  for  Spraying — There  has  recently  been 
introduced  and  widely  sold  a  novel  machine  for  spray- 
ing purposes,  which  derives  its  power  from  purely 
chemical  sources.  A  small  tank  or  cylinder  is  charged 
with  carbon  dioxide  gas.  This  is  the  same  gas  used  in 
soda  fountains,  and  it  is  used  in  spraying  in  almost  the 
same  way.  A  strong  air-tight  metal  tank  holding  50,  100 
or  200  gallons  of  spray  mixture  is  mounted  on  a  suitable 
wagon  or  truck.  The  cylinder  of  gas,  about  8  inches 
in  diameter  by  4  feet  long,  is  fastened  on  beside  this 
tank.  The  gas  pressure  is  opened  into  the  tank  of 


THE  AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

liquid  by  a  suitable  system  of  cocks,  and  the  spray 
mixture  is  blown  out  through  the  nozzles.  When  a 
tube  has  been  exhausted  of  its  gas  it  is  returned  to 
the  soda  water  factory  to  be  recharged.  Counting 
the  cost  of  returning  and  recharging  tubes,  it  may  be 
computed  that  this  method  of  spraying,  under  favorable 
conditions,  costs  about  the  same  as  to  spread  the  same 
amount  of  mixture  by  hand  pumps.  There  are  several 
distinct  advantages,  however.  The  pressure  is  greater 
and  more  uniform,  so  that  much  better  work  is  the  re- 
sult. There  is  practically  no  machinery  to  break  and 
get  out  of  order.  The  outfit  is  lighter  to  transport 
about  the  farm  than  any  kind  of  pump  can  be.  The 
better  quality  of  the  work  is  certainly  the  chief  advan- 
tage. 

These  gas  tubes  give  a  comparatively  high  pres- 
sure, ranging  even  above  200  pounds;  but  this 
pressure  can  be  regulated  accurately  after  a  little 
experience.  A  pressure  of  about  100  to  120  pounds 
will  be  found  best  for  ordinary  work  with  bor- 
deaux or  lime-sulphur  spray. 


XV 

SOLUTIONS  FOR  SPRAYING 

HUNDREDS,  even  thousands,  of  spray  solutions  have 
been  introduced  during  the  last  15  years.  Several  of 
them  have  met  with  temporary  favor,  but  for  practical 
field  work  the  list  is  now  reduced  to  three  or  four. 
Only  the  most  important  ones  need  be  given  here,  as 
this  is  a  book  for  the  practical  worker,  not  for  the  ex- 
perimenters. 

The  making  of  almost  any  spray  solution  is  an  ex- 
acting task.  Often  it  is  dirty  and  highly  disagreeable 
also.  This  applies  particularly  to  bordeaux  mixture 
and  the  lime-sulphur  spray,  which  are  probably  the 
two  most  important  sprays  now  in  use.  On  account 
of  this  disagreeable  nature  of  the  work  hired  men,  and 
even  orchard  owners  themselves,  are  sometimes  in- 
clined to  slight  the  task.  They  seek  short  cuts  and 
shabby  improvements — always  to  the  detriment  of  the 
spraying.  It  might  as  well  be  accepted  as  a  funda- 
mental fact  at  the  outset  that  spraying  is  hard,  dirty 
work,  and  that  it  must  be  done  with  great  care  in  spite 
of  the  drawbacks.  Close  attention  should  be  paid  to 
the  minutest  details  in  making  up  and  putting  on  spray 
mixtures. 

BORDEAUX     MIXTURE 

By  all  means  the  most  important  fungicide  which  we 
use  is  bordeaux  mixture.  This  has  superseded  prac- 
tically every  other  fungicide  yet  introduced.  The 

131 


132  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

.changes  in  the  formula  for  bordeaux  mixture  have 
been  very  few  and  of  a  minor  nature,  showing  that 
it  is  as  nearly  perfect  as  such  things  can  be.  The  mix- 
ture is  made  in  various  strengths  for  various  pur- 
poses, but  probably  the  best  formula  for  spraying  ap- 
ple trees  is  the  standard  mixture,  as  follows: 

4  pounds  copper  sulphate  (blue  vitriol), 

4  pounds  lime,  • 

50  gallons  water. 

To  make  up  the  mixture  first  dissolve  the  copper 
sulphate.  This  process  can  be  very  much  hastened  by 
using  hot  water.  The  usual  method,  however,  is  to 
put  the  copper  sulphate  into  a  gunny  sack  and  hang 
it  on  a  fork  handle  in  the  top  of  a  barrel  or  tub  so  it 
will  just  barely  be  immersed  in  the  water.  As  fast  as 
it  dissolves  it  sinks  toward  the  bottom  of  the  vessel. 
If  only  50  gallons  (say  one  barrel)  of  mixture  are  to 
be  made  it  is  well  to  dissolve  the  copper  sulphate  in 
25  gallons  of  water. 

The  next  step  is  to  slake  the  lime.  This  should  be 
done  by  adding  a  little  water  at  a  time,  just  enough 
to  keep  the  lime  slaking,  but  not  enough  to  quench 
the  heat  generated  in  the  process.  When  the  slaking 
is  finished  more  water  can  be  added,  making  the  lime 
into  a  thick  cream.  It  can  then  be  diluted  so  as  to 
make  25  gallons  or  half  a  barrel  of  solution,  and,  if 
necessary,  it  should  be  strained.  With  good  lime, 
however,  the  straining  can  be  omitted. 

The  two  solutions  are  now  ready — the  copper  sul- 
phate in  one  tub  or  barrel  and  the  lime  in  another.  To 
make  the  mixture  dip  or  pour  the  copper  sulphate  into 
the  lime,  or  else  pour  both  solutions  at  once  into  a 
third  barrel.  In  either  case  the  mixture  must  be 
stirred  vigorously  during  the  pouring.  Under  no  cir- 


SOLUTIONS  FOR  SPRAYING 


133 


cumstances  should  the  process  be  reversed  and  the 
lime  poured  into  the  copper  sulphate.  This  little  de- 
tail, which  is  of  no  obvious  importance  whatever,  really 
makes  the  difference  between  a  good  and  a  very 
bad  mixture  which  may  ruin  the  foliage  on  every  tree 
it  touches. 


ARRANGEMENT   FOR   MIXING   BORDEAUX 

When  a  big  campaign  of  spraying  is  on  and  much 
bordeaux  has  to  be  made,  the  best  plan  is  to  make  up 
stock  solutions.  To  do  this  dissolve  say  40  pounds 
of  copper  sulphate  in  40  gallons  of  hot  water,  and  set 
it  aside  for  use.  Then  in  a  suitable  box  slake  40 


134 


THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 


pounds  of  lime,  and  add  enough  water  to  make  40 
gallons  of  this  solution  also.  With  care  these  solu- 
tions will  keep  for  some  time;  if  they  stand  for  sev- 
eral weeks  they  become  considerably  concentrated 
through  evaporation  of  the  water. 

To  use  these  stock 
solutions  in  making  up  a 
barrel  of  bordeaux  for 
spraying  take  4  gallons 
of  the  copper  sulphate 
solution  and  dilute  it  to 
approximately  25  gallons. 
Then  take  4  gallons  of 
the  lime  solution  and 
dilute  it  in  another  bar- 
rel making  approximately 
25  gallons.  Then  pour 
the  copper  sulphate  solu- 
tion into  the  lime  solution 
as  before  directed,  stirring 
thoroughly. 

BORDEAUX  INJURY  AT  *        ,  ,       , 

No  matter  how  the  bor- 
deaux mixture  is  made  it  should  be  strained  before 
using.  To  do  this  put  it  through  cheesecloth  as  it 
goes  into  the  spray  tank. 

In  making  up  large  quantities  of  bordeaux  a  great 
amount  of  labor  can  be  saved  by  a  convenient  arrange- 
ment of  barrels  or  tanks.  The  usual  way  is  to  build 
a  platform,  preferably  in  two  stories,  as  shown  in  the 
picture,  page  133.  The  stock  solutions  are  made  up 
in  tubs,  barrels  or  tanks  on  the  upper  platform.  They 
are  also  ladled  out  and  diluted  on  this  upper  stage. 
They  are  then  allowed  to  run  together  into  a  trough 
conducting  them  to  a  barrel  on  the  lower  platform. 


SOLUTIONS   FOR   SPRAYING  135 

They  mix  as  they  run  together  into  the  trough  and 
this  mixture  should  be  vigorously  stirred  in  the  barrel 
during  the  operation.  The  mixture  thus  completed 
is  drawn  off  by  gravity  into  the  spray  tank,  passing 
through  the  cheesecloth  strainer  on  its  way. 

This  staging  must  be  made  high  enough  so  that 
the  completed  mixture  will  run  down  into  the 
mounted  spray  tank;  and  there  must  be  arranged 
a  convenient  water  supply  sending  water  easily  up 
to  the  top  platform.  This  staging  can  be  used  in 
making  and  handling  other  sprays,  though  it  is 
especially  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  bordeaux. 
A  word  needs  to  be  said  about  the  chemicals  used. 
Copper  sulphate  is  seldom  adulterated  though  some- 
times it  is  not  so  clean  as  it  ought  to  be.  The  granulated 
form  costs  about  one-half  cent  more  a  pound  than 
the  lumps,  and  is  easier  to  dissolve.  If  the  amount  of 
work  to  be  done  will  justify  it  the  copper  sulphate 
should  be  bought  by  the  barrel.  A  barrel  contains  in 
the  neighborhood  of  200  pounds  and  costs  from  6^4  to 
7^2  cents  a  pound  at  present,  with  a  tendency  for  the 
price  to  go  higher. 

The  proper  selection  of  lime  is  more  important. 
The  lime  must  be  of  good  quality,  well  burned  and 
not  air  slaked.  The  fine  lime  sometimes  preferred  by 
masons  should  not  be  used.  Lumps  are  better. 

Always  use  lime  enough.  The  quantity  recom- 
mended in  the  formula  already  given  will  be  quite 
sufficient  if  good  lime  is  used;  but  in  case  of  doubt 
more  lime  can  be  used.  It  is  customary  in  books  and 
bulletins  to  recommend  the  so-called  ferro-cyanide 
test,  but  in  actual  practice  it  is  better  to  rely  on  good 
lime.  The  idea  of  this  ferro-cyanide  test  is  to  de- 
termine whether  the  lime  has  completely  neutralized 


THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

;  the  copper  sulphate.  A  solution  of  potassium  ferro- 
cyanide  (yellow  prussiate  of  potash)  is  made  by  dis- 
solving say  I  ounce  of  the  ferro-cyanide  in  6  ounces 
of  water.  A  few  drops  of  this  solution  may  be 
dropped  into  the  bordeaux  mixture  to  be  tested,  when, 
if  the  copper  sulphate  has  not  been  neutralized,  it  will 
instantly  give  a  deep  brownish-red  color.  If  the  mix- 
ture is  properly  neutralized  no  color  will  appear.  This 
test  is  very  accurate  and  reliable,  provided  the  bor- 
deaux is  evenly  mixed ;  but  it  is  too  much  bother  for 
practical  use  in  the  field. 

Even  with  the  greatest  care  in  making  and  apply- 
ing bordeaux  there  sometimes  results  considerable 
damage  to  fruit  and  foliage  from  the  action  of  the 
spray  mixture  itself.  This  damage  is  usually  most 
conspicuous  on  the  fruit,  and  appears  in  the  form 
of  russety  patches  or  rings.  The  weather  evidently 
has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  amount  of  injury,  but 
on  the  whole  this  trouble  is  not  very  well  understood. 
On  account  of  it  careful  growers  and  experimenters 
now  generally  use  a  more  dilute  bordeaux  mixture 
than  formerly.  The  formula  already  given  is  weaker 
than  sometimes  recommended,  but  it  may  be  still  fur- 
ther diluted  if  any  ill  effects  are  seen.  In  case  of 
bordeaux  injury  it  will  be  best  to  substitute  the  fol- 
lowing formula  : 

3  pounds  copper  sulphate 

4  pounds  lime 
50  gallons  water 

COPPER  SULPHATE  SOLUTION 

In  early  spring  before  the  buds  open  a  thorough 
spraying  with  a  strong  fungicide  gives  very  great 
returns.  Indeed  this  is  probably  the  most  profitable 


SOLUTIONS    FOR    SPRAYING  137 

spraying  of  the  year.  When  lime-sulphur  mixture  is 
used  for  San  Jose  scale  in  spring  it  will  take  the  place 
of  any  other  spraying  before  the  buds  open.  In  all 
other  cases  some  solution  of  copper  sulphate  should 
be  applied.  Bordeaux  mixture  will  serve  the  pur- 
pose ;  but  as  this  work  is  to  be  done  before  the  buds 
open,  the  .lime  may  be  omitted.  The  liquid  thus  be- 
comes a  plain  solution  of  copper  sulphate.  The  recipe 
would  be  about  as  follows,  though  the  exact  propor- 
tions are  not  very  important:. 

3  pounds  copper  sulphate 
50  gallons  water 

Simply  dissolve  the  copper  sulphate  in  the  water  as 
already  directed,  page  132,  and  the  solution  is  ready 
to  apply. 

THE    LIME-SULPHUR     MIXTURE 

This  is  doubtless  the  dirtiest,  messiest  and  nastiest 
spray  mixture  yet  invented.  Perhaps  for  that  reason 
it  is  one  of  the  most  effective.  At  any  rate  it  is  in- 
dispensable, at  least  in  the  northern  states,  in  fighting 
San  Jose  scale.  It  also  serves  to  kill  many  other  in- 
sects, as  oyster  shell  bark  louse,  and  moreover  has  a 
distinct  fungicidal  value.  When  it  is  used  during  the 
spring  no  further  application  of  bordeaux  or  other 
fungicide  need  be  made  till  the  fruit  has  set. 

Various  recipes  are  given  for  making  the  lime- 
sulphur  mixture.  The  following  is  the  formula  used 
and  preferred  by  the  writer  : 

16  pounds  unslaked  lime 

1 6  pounds  flowers  of  sulphur 

50  gallons  water. 

In  moderate  quantities  this  mixture  can  best  be 
made  in  a  large  iron  kettle.  To  make  up  the  full 


138  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

recipe  as  given  a  5o-gallon  kettle  would  be  required; 
and,  in  fact,  such  a  vessel  (shown  on  this  page)  is  the 
cheapest  and  best  provision  for  handling  a  small  or- 
chard, say  up  to  200  or  400  trees.  When  the  orchard 
reaches  600  bearing  trees  requiring  lime-sulphur 


BOILER   FOR   LIME-SULPHUR   MIXTURE 

treatment    some    more    elaborate    cooking    apparatus 
should  be  provided. 

The  making  of  the  lime-sulphur  mixture  is  begun 
by  slaking  the  lime  in  the  kettle,  using  hot  water.  In 
fact  the  fire  under  the  kettle  should  be  started  at  this 
time.  As  the  lime  slakes  add  water  slowly.  When 


SOLUTIONS   FOR   SPRAYING  139 

the  slaking  is  well  under  way  the  sulphur  should  be 
added.  Then  the  heat  generated  by  the  slaking  lime 
will  help  to  melt  it.  At  this  stage  the  kettle  should 
contain  only  10  to  15  gallons  of  water.  Vigorous  and 
constant  stirring  of  the  mixture  is  necessary  during 
this  period,  which  will  occupy  about  15  minutes. 
When  the  lime  is  thoroughly  slaked  and  the  sulphur 
dissolved  the  rest  of  the  water  (preferably  hot)  may 
be  added.  The  whole  is  then  brought  to  the  boiling 
point  and  vigorously  boiled  for  40  minutes  to  an  hour. 
Most  observers  agree  that  a  full  hour  of  thorough  boil- 
ing is  time  and  fuel  well  spent.  During  this  cooking 
the  mixture  changes  to  a  dark  reddish  orange,  very 
characteristic  and  easily  recognized  after  once  seen. 
This  color  is  one  of  the  best  tests  for  a  well-made 
mixture  and  certainly  no  lime-sulphur  solution  should 
be  used  unless  this  color  appears  unmistakably. 

Some  sediment  will  be  found  in  the  bottom  of  the 
kettle.  This  is  mostly  undissolved  partic!es  of  lime 
or  unburnt  bits  of  limestone.  Any  considerable 
amount  of  this  sediment  indicates  a  poor  grade  of 
lime.  The  solution  should  be  strained  before  using, 
and  must  be  used  at  once,  hot  out  of  the  kettle..  Solu- 
tion which  stands  overnight  can  be  recooked  and 
used,  but  is  not  so  good.  The  hotter  the  solution  can 
be  put  onto  the  trees  the  better,  within  practicable 
limits. 

When  considerable  quantities  of  lime-sulphur  mix- 
ture are  to  be  used  it  will  usually  be  best  to  establish 
a  steam  cooking  plant.  Any  steam  boiler  will  answer 
for  the  generation  of  the  steam,  which  can  then  be 
conducted  through  pipes  or  steam  hose  to  barrels  or 
tanks.  Here  the  live  steam  is  turned  into  the  mixture 


140 


THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 


and  a  boiling  heat  easily  produced.  The  arrange- 
ment of  such  a  cookery  will  be  best  understood  from 
the  illustration  below. 

Good  lime  is  of  great  importance  in  making  the 
lime-sulphur  spray,  as  in  making  bordeaux.  Air 
slaked  or  half  burnt  lime  should  never  be  used.  In 


PLANT  FOR  MAKING  LIME  SULPHUR 

any  case  of  doubt  the  amount  of  lime  in  the  mixture 
should  be  increased.  An  excess  of  lime  can  do  no 
possible  injury,  and  it  is  a  positive  advantage  in 
that  it  whitens  the  trees  and  makes  it  easier  to 
follow  the  work. 

Good  clean  flowers  of  sulphur  should  also  be  used. 
The  so-called  "sulphur  flour"  now  largely  substituted 
at  a  saving  of  about  one-fourth  to  one-half  cent  a 


SOLUTIONS   FOR   SPRAYING  141 

pound  is  not  so  good.  •  In  buying  sulphur  it  is  best 
to  secure  samples  and  prices  from  different  dealers 
and  then  to  buy  in  not  less  than  barrel  lots.  Barrels 
usually  hold  a  trifle  less  than  200  pounds.  The  large 
wholesale  city  druggists  or  manufacturers  of  chemi- 
cals can  commonly  quote  the  best  prices. 

Lime-sulphur  is  used  at  any  time  when  the  trees 
are  not  in  foliage.  Winter  spraying  is  common  in 
states  south  of  Delaware  and  Kansas;  but  north  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  where  the  lime-sulphur  is 
more  exclusively  used,  fairly  late  spring  spraying  is 
most  effective.  The  work  must  stop  however  when 
the  buds  begin  to  open. 

PARIS    GREEN 

For  the  omnipresent  codling  moth  and  for  all  leaf- 
eating  insects  some  form  of  poison  is  employed,  nearly 
always  some  form  of  arsenic.  The  most  popular 
arsenical  poison  is  undoubtedly  paris  green.  This 
standard  chemical  (or  mixture  of  chemicals)  has  cer- 
tain positive  advantages,  and  should  generally  be  used 
by  those  who  are  growing  fruit  on  a  small  scale.  It 
is  occasionally  adulterated,  but  by  buying  of  reliable 
dealers  one  can  nearly  always  avoid  trouble.  How- 
ever, as  adulterated  paris  green  is  likely  to  do  serious 
damage  to  the  foliage,  the  fruit  growers  should  be 
careful  at  this  point.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  paris 
green  can  be  tested  by  dissolving  in  ammonia.  Pure 
paris  green  dissolves  perfectly,  making-  a  bright  bluish 
solution.  Impure  paris  green  does  not  dissolve  com- 
pletely in  ammonia,  there  being  some  sediment. 

Paris  green  is  now  usually  used  in  combination 
with  some  fungicide,  as  explained  later;  but  when  an 
insecticide  only  is  needed,  as  to  meet  an  invasion  of 


142  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

tent  caterpillars,  for  example,  it  may  be  made  up  as 
follows : 

4  ounces  paris  green 
50  gallons  water 

The  paris  green  will  mix  readily  with  the  water, 
but  does  not  dissolve.  It  is  best  to  make  up  a  paste  of 
the  green  with  a  little  water  before  putting  it  into 
the  barrel.  Some  men  find  it  advisable  to  add  a  small 
amount  of  lime,  but  with  pure  paris  green  this  should 
not  be  necessary. 

ARSENATE  OF  LEAD 

In  one  form  or  another  the  arsenate  of  lead  is  largely 
taking  the  place  of  paris  green.  Probably  the  bulk 
of  the  spraying  done  by  the  largest  and  most  up-to- 
date  operators  is  done  with  this  insecticide.  It  may  be 
made  from  the  following  recipe : 

4  ounces  arsenate  of  soda  (50%  strength) 
ii  ounces  acetate  of  lead 
150  gallons  of  water 

Put  the  arsenate  of  soda  into  a  wooden  pail  with  2 
quarts  of  water,  and  the  acetate  of  lead  in  another 
wooden  pail  with  4  quarts  of  water,  preferably 
warm.  As  these  substances  are  very  poisonous,  it  will 
be  as  well  not  to  use  a  milk  pail  or  one  commonly  used 
for  the  family  drinking  water.  When  the  chemicals  in 
both  pails  are  dissolved  mix  them  together  with  the 
150  gallons  of  water,  and  the  whole  is  ready  for  use. 

Most  fruit  growers  prefer  to  buy  their  arsenate  of 
lead  ready  made.  Some  of  the  commercial  brands 
appear  under  trade  names,  as,  for  example,  Bowker's 
"Disparene,"  which  is  simply  an  excellent  grade  of 
arsenate  of  lead.  The  ready-made  article  costs  from 


SOLUTIONS  FOR  SPRAYING  143 

15  to  30  cents  a  pound.  In  hundred-pound  kegs  it  can 
be  boug"ht  for  about  18  cents  a  pound.  It  is  simply 
mixed  with  water,  using  2  to  5  pounds  to  the  bar- 
rel. For  fighting  the  codling  moth  3  pounds  to  50 
gallons  of  water  is  recommended.  At  this  rate  it  is 
considerably  more  expensive  than  paris  green ;  but  the 
fact  that  there  is  le^s  danger  of  burning  the  foliage, 
and  the  more  important  fact  that  the  ar senate  of  lead 
will  stick  through  all  ordinary  rain  storms,  probably 
justify  this  increased  expense. 

In  using  arsenate  of  lead  it  is  best  to  make  it  up 
into  a  paste  with  a  small  amount  of  water.  Then 
simply  put  the  required  amount  into  the  spray  tank 
and  pump  in  the  water. 

ARSENITE    OF    LIME 

A  somewhat  similar  insecticide  occasionally  used  is 
arsenite  of  lime.  It  is  made  as  follows : 

1  pound  white  arsenic 

2  pounds  fresh  lime 
i  gallon  of  water 

Boil  together  in  an  iron  kettle  for  45  minutes  to  an 
hour  and  keep  in  tight  bottles  or  fruit  jars.  When 
ready  to  use  add  i  quart  of  this  stock  solution  to  50 
gallons  of  water.  Some  lime  water  should  usually  be 
added  also. 

This  is  the  cheapest  form  of  arsenical  spray  yet 
devised,  costing  in  reality  only  from  one-tenth  to  one- 
third  what  other  arsenical  sprays  cost.  As  it  is  ef- 
fective, it  is  worth  considering,  though  most  orchard- 
ists  seem  to  prefer  ready-made  arsenate  of  lead  on 
account  of  its  easier  manipulation  and  its  sticking 
qualities.  This  arsenite  of  lime  is  best  when  used 
with  bordeaux  mixture. 


144  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

SOLUBLE  OILS 

At  the  present  moment  there  is  much  interest  in  the 
so-called  soluble  oils  sold  under  proprietary  names 
such  as  "target  brand,"  "kil-o-scale,"  "scalecide," 
etc.  These  seem  to  be  giving-  especially  good  re- 
sults on  young  and  medium-sized  apple  trees  in  south- 
ern and  middle  latitudes.  They  have  not  generally 
been  found  successful  in  the  northern  states,  and  it 
seems  certain  that  they  cannot  be  relied  on  anywhere 
to  give  results  equal  to  lime-sulphur  mixture  properly 
made  and  thoroughly  put  on.  They  also  cost  from  50 
to  100  per  cent  more  than  the  lime-sulphur  spray. 
Their  great  advantage  is  the  ease  with  which  they  are 
made  up.  The  oil  is  simply  poured  •  into  the  water 
with  which  (under  favorable  conditions)  it  mixes 
instantly,  and  the  outfit  starts  immediately  for  the 
orchard.  All  the  tiresome  and  supremely  disagreeable 
work  of  making  up  the  lime-sulphur  is  obviated. 

Anyone  who  has  many  acres  of  apple  trees  south  of 
Pennsylvania  infected  with  San  Jose  scale  ought  to 
experiment  carefully  with  fall  and  winter  applications 
of  soluble  oil ;  but  as  the  case  stands  at  this  writing  he 
should  make  it  a  real  experiment  and  be  perfectly  sure 
that  the  scale  is  being  radically  suppressed  before 
committing  himself  to  this  form  of  insecticide. 

COMBINED   INSECTICIDES   AND   FUNGICIDES 

In  actual  practice  the  custom  is  to  combine  an  in- 
secticide with  a  fungicide.  Bordeaux  mixture  is  the 
fungicide  in  almost  universal  use,  and  the  various  in- 
secticides are  mixed  with  this.  What  really  goes 
through  the  spray  pump,  therefore,  is  bordeaux  mix- 
ture plus  paris  green,  or  bordeaux  plus  arsenate  of 


I  SOLUTIONS   FOR   SPRAYING  145 

lead.    Other  combinations  can  be  used  with  equal  facil- 
ity, but  these  two  are  the  most  common. 

These  combinations  give  quite  as  good  results  as 
the  same  chemicals  applied  separately.  In  fact  paris 
green  is  better  when  mixed  with  bordeaux,  as  the  lime 
tends  to  neutralize  the  free  acids,  which  sometimes 
burn  the  foliage.  Again,  bordeaux  mixture  is  im- 
proved by  the  addition  of  arsenate  of  lead,  as  it  sticks 
to  the  foliage  much  better.  Of  course  there  is  no  more 
labor  required  to  put  on  both  the  insecticide  and  the 
fungicide  than  there  would  be  needed  to  put  on  either 
one  separately.  The  saving  of  labor  is  the  chief  item, 
and  it  is  a  very  large  one. 

DUST  SPRAYS 

A  few  years  ago  considerable  interest  was  aroused 
by  the  introduction  of  dust  sprays^  but  these  have  now 
been  almost  abandoned.  The  chemicals  are  simply 
made  up  in  dry  form,  very  finely  pulverized,  and  are 
thrown  upon  the  trees  from  a  powerful  blower.  Paris 
green  is  mixed  with  a  little  lime  or  with  fine  road 
dust  or  other  practicable  dry  powder. 

Dust  spraying  -is  easier  and  cheaper  than  liquid 
spraying;  but  experience  everywhere  shows  that  it  is 
very  much  less  efficient.  It  cannot  be  depended  on  to 
control  fungous  diseases  to  any  extent.  In  fact,  the 
only  service  which  it  can  perform  with  any  degree  of 
efficiency  is  the  control  of  the  codling  moth.  Even  in 
this  it  is  less  successful  than  equally  careful  applica- 
tions of  liquid  insecticides. 

On  account  of  their  lightness  and  portability  the  dust 
blowers  can  be  handled  in  some  orchards  which  are 
so  stony  and  rough  that  ordinary  spray  pumps  can- 
not be  used.  On  such  land  the  dust  method  of  spray- 


140  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD  * 

ing  can  be  freely  recommended ;  but  it  is  the  firm  con- 
viction of  the  writer  that  land  too  rough  to  admit  of 
economical  tillage  and  spraying  should  never  be 
planted  to  apple  trees.  Some  men  seem  to  have  a 
notion  that  land  which  is  too  rough  and  rocky  for 
pasturing  goats  can  be  used  for  growing  apples.  The 
apples  will  grow  well  enough;  but  the  growers  who 
plant  orchards  on  good  land  will  soon  teach  these 
rock-bottom  orchardists  a  hard  lesson. 

SOME   GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS 

1.  Spray  thoroughly.    Careless  work  in  any  line  of 
fruit  growing  does  not  pay,  but  nowhere  else  is  thor- 
oughness so  absolutely  essential  as  in  spraying.    Care- 
less spraying  may  even  injure  the  trees. 

2.  Spray  every  year.      That   excellent   gentleman 
who  "took  a  bath  every  Fourth  of  July  whether  he 
needed  it  or  not"  is  the  model  for  the  sprayman  to  fol- 
low.    There  are  seasons  when  fungi  and  insects  seem 
to   be    absent.      The    fruit   grower    is    then    strongly 
tempted  to  save  the  expense  of  spraying,  but  it  is  a 
great  mistake  to  do  so.    The  spraying  done  in  a  good 
year  counts  in  the  bad  years,  for  the  effects  of  proper 
spraying  are  not  all  seen  the  first  year. 

3.  Spray  intelligently.     Some  men  use  paris  green 
to  kill  aphis  or  bordeaux  mixture-  on  San  Jose  scale. 
It  is  absolutely  impossible  for  either  solution  to  give 
the  slightest  result  in  these  cases.    Spraying  is  a  com- 
plicated  business   and   unless   a   man   knows   exactly 
what  he  is  trying  to  do,  and  why,  he  is  apt  to  waste  his 
entire  time  and  labor. 

4.  Do  not  spray  while  trees  are  in  bloom.     It  in- 
jures the  blossoms,  and  it  also  poisons  the  bees  which 
are  necessary  to  fertilize  the  flowers. 


SOLUTIONS   FOR   SPRAYING  147 

5.  Solutions   or   mixtures    containing   copper   sul- 
phate, arsenate  of  lead  or  corrosive  sublimate  should 
always   be   made   up   or   stored   in   wooden,   glass   or 
earthen  vessels.     Pump  cylinders  and  other  working 
parts  of  the  machinery  should  be  of  brass. 

6.  Sulphur  solutions  or  the  lime-sulphur  mixture 
should  be  made  in  iron  or  wooden  vessels ;  and  it  is  bet- 
ter to   have  pump   linings   of   iron   rather  than   of 
brass. 

7.  "Handle  with  care"  all  substances  used  in  spray- 
ing, as  most  of  them  are  poisonous — some  of  them 
very  much  so.     Everything  should  be  kept  correctly 
labeled  and  preferably  put  away  under  lock  and  key. 

THE  SPRAYING  CAMPAIGN 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  fruit  grower  cannot  usually 
wait  till  a  disease  or  an  insect  pest  becomes  estab- 
lished in  his  orchard,  then  diagnose  the  trouble  and 
apply  some  specific  remedy.  The  best  practice  is  to 
lay  off  a  campaign  which  is  intelligently  planned  to 
meet  all  probable  troubles,  and  then  to  carry  out  this 
plan  with  vigor  and  thoroughness.  In  all  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances the  year's  spraying  will  not  vary  much 
from  the  following  program : 

1.  In  orchards  infested  with  San  Jose  scale  spray 
in  late  winter  or  early  spring  with  lime-sulphur  (page 
I37)>  or  possibly  with  soluble  oils    (page   144). 

2.  In  orchards  not  treated  with  lime-sulphur  ap- 
ply copper  sulphate  solution  (page  136)  just  before  the 
buds  open.    This  treatment  is  important. 

3.  Spray  again  just  before  the  blossoms  open,  us- 
ing bordeaux  mixture   (page  131).     If  bud  moth  or 
similar  insects  are  on  hand,   add  paris  green  to  the 
bordeaux  (page  141).  This  spraying  may  be  omitted. 


148  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

4.  Spray    immediately    after   the   blossoms    fall — 
never   while  the  blossoms   are   open — with  bordeaux 
combined    with    some    good    insecticide    (page    144). 
Next  to   No.  2  this   is  the  most  important  spraying 
of  the  year. 

5.  Apply  the   same   solution — combined   fungicide 
and  insecticide — two  weeks  later. 

6.  Repeat  No.  5  after  an  interval  of  two  weeks. 
This  program  amounts  to  three  or  four  sprayings 

each  year.  This  is  considerably  above  the  average 
number  actually  given,  even  by  successful  fruit  grow- 
ers. Still  there  are  practical  men  who  give  more  than 
this  number  and  who  make  money  by  it.  Almost  every 
apple  grower  will  say  that  he  does  not  spray  as  much 
as  he  ought  to.  It  is  very  rare  for  any  man  to  say  that 
he  has  sprayed  too  much. 

Additional  sprayings,  beyond  the  number  outlined 
in  the  foregoing  program,  may  be  required  in  emer- 
gencies, such  as  a  very  rainy  season  with  late  devel- 
opment of  scab,  or  a  late  outbreak  of  bitter  rot. 


XVI 

HARVESTING  AND  MARKETING 
THE  FRUIT 

IT  is  generally  conceded  that  the  methods  used  in 
harvesting  and  marketing  the  crop  have  about  as  much 
influence  on  the  profits  realized  as  the  methods  of 
growing.  In  fact,  this  commercial  part  of  the  subject 
is  of  such  great  importance  that  the  present  writer  has 
already  devoted  an  entire  volume  to  it.*  The  principal 
portion  of  the  present  discussion  is  adapted  from  a 
shorter  pamphlet  on  the  same  subject  prepared  by  the 
present  writer,  f 

Methods  of  handling  the  apple  crop  have  been 
changed  very  greatly  in  recent  years.  Those  who  have 
any  ambition  to  make  money  by  handling  apples  on  a 
large  scale  will  be  obliged  to  adopt  up-to-date  methods 
which  handle  the  largest  possible"  quantity  of  fruit  in 
the  best  order  at  a  minimum  cost. 

PICKING  APPLES 

It  is  a  delicate  question  to  determine  just  when  ap- 
ples ought  to  be  picked.  There  are  some  reasons  why 
it  is  desirable  to  pick  as  early  as  possible.  Early  pick- 
ing reduces  the  danger  from  wind  storms  and  saves 

*F.  A.  Waugh,  Fruit  Harvesting,  Storing,  Marketing;  Orange  Judd 
Co.,  New  York,  publishers. 

tPacking  and  Marketing  Fruits,  published  by  the  Fruit  Grower  Co., 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

149 


150  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

considerable  loss  from  windfalls  under  all  circum- 
stances. On  the  other  hand,  apples  color  up  best  when 
they  are  left  comparatively  long  on  the  trees.  Many 
varieties  do  not  color  thoroughly  until  after  the  leaves 
thin  out  considerably.  Some  varieties  can  be  left  to  ad- 
vantage long  after  the  first  frost.  This  depends  a  good 
deal,  of  course,  on  the  variety  itself  and  its  habit  of 
holding  on  the  tree.  Northern  Spy  and  Ben  Davis 
hold  on  extremely  late,  while  Wealthy  and  Wagener 
are  apt  to  fall  as  soon  as  they  are  ripe,  or  even  before. 


THE  APPLE  HARVEST 

If  apples  are  to  be  sent  to  storage  another  factor 
comes  into  consideration  in  determining  the  proper 
time  for  picking.  It  used  to  be  thought  that  apples 
should  be  picked  before  they  were  mature  in  order  to 
have  them  hold  well  in  cold  storage.  The  extensive 
experiments  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  re- 
cent years  have  shown  that  this  idea  is  wrong.  Nearly 
all  varieties  stand  cold  storage  best  if  thoroughly  ripe 
and  well  colored,  but  not  overripe.  Such  varieties  as 


HARVESTING  AND    MARKETING  1$! 

are  subject  to  scald  should  be  given  special  attention 
in  this  respect,  as  it  is  found  that  the  scald  is  worse  on 
apples  picked  before  maturity.  Thoroughly  ripe  apples, 
well  colored,  are  not  nearly  so  much  subject  to  scald 
as  are  green,  uncolored  specimens. 

The  importance  of  having  the  fruit  nicely  colored 
and  ripened  when  picked  is  so  great  that  many  of  the 
best  growers  who  make  a  specialty  of  fancy  grades 
have  adopted  the  practice  of  picking  the  apple  trees 
over  two,  three,  or  even  four  times.  At  each  picking 
they  take  off  such  fruit  as  is  ripe,  well  colored,  and  up 
to  size.  The  balance  is  allowed  to  hang,  and  it  is 
found  that  the  apples  will  increase  greatly  in  size 
toward  the  end  of  the  season  and  will  color  up  and 
otherwise  improve  long  after  the  first  lot  would 
have  fallen  to  the  ground.  Of  course,  this  method 
of  picking  over  the  trees  several  times  would  be 
too  expensive  with  cheap  fruit  and  with  all  poorer 
grades  of  apples.  It  is  strongly  recommended, 
however,  for  early  varieties  and  fancy  grades. 

There  have  been  all  sorts  of  mechanical  pickers  ad- 
vertised, but  none  has  ever  become  popular.  •  They 
are  of  two  kinds.  The  first  kind,  intended  to  pick  a 
single  apple  at  a  time  out  of  the  higher  branches,  con- 
sists of  some  sort  of  a  pocket  hung  on  the  end  of  a 
long  pole.  These  contrivances  are  too  slow  and  cum- 
bersome for  any  commercial  work.  The  second  style 
presents  some  modification  of  the  old  practice  of  shak- 
ing apples  off  the  trees.  It  furnishes  some  kind  of  a 
spread  held  under  the  branches  upon  which  the  apples 
are  shaken  down.  While  the  method  is  cheap  enough 
to  make  it  commercially  available,  it  is  too  rough  for 
the  exacting  demands  of  present-day  business.  By  all 


152 


THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 


means  the  best  way  of  putting  up  commercial  apples  is 
to  pick  by  hand  from  the  trees. 

There  is  something  of  a  knack  in  picking  apples,  but 
unfortunately  expert  apple  pickers  are  not  often  to  be 
hired.  The  fruit-grower  is  usually  obliged  to  put  up 
with  ordinary  day  labor  and  to  make  up  H  the  careful- 
ness of  his  own  supervision  the  lack  of  experience  on 
the  part  of  the  pickers.  Apple  pickers  usually  get  the 
prevailing  day  wages;  that  is,  from  $i  to  $1.75  a  day. 

Apples  are  sometimes 
picked  by  the  bushel  or 
barrel,  but  this  practice 
is  not  common  and  isx 
not  to  be  recommended. 
When  it  is  indulged  in, 
the  price  paid  is  from 
8  to  15  cents  a  barrel. 
The  writer  has  recently 
been  told,  on  pretty 
good  authority,  of  a 
picker  who  picked  100 
barrels  of  apples  from 
the  trees  in  one  day. 
Any  such  slam-banging 
work  as  that  ought  to 

be  prohibited  in  any  well-regulated  orchard.  The 
ordinary  picker  will  pick  from  12  to  20  barrels  a  day. 
Apples  should  be  picked  with  the  stems  on  and  not 
torn  from  the  trees.  Where  the  stem  is  pulled  out  of 
the  apple,  the  skin  is  usually  broken  and  an  opportu- 
nity for  decay  given. 

Some  pickers  prefer  to  pick  into  a  sack  tied  over  the 
shoulder.  The  best  contrivance,  however,  is  undoubt- 
edly the  swinging-bail  half-bushel  basket.  This  is 


PICKING  BASKET 


HARVESTING    AND   .MARKETING  153 

made  in  various  styles,  usually  of  oak  or  elm  splints. 
These  baskets  are  now  used  in  such  large  quantities 
that  they  can  be  bought  at  very  reasonable  prices.  If 
fine  fruit  is  to  be  handled  with  special  care,  it  is  worth 
while  to  have  the  baskets  padded  inside.  Each  basket 
should  be  furnished  with  a  hook  made  by  bending  a 
strong  ^-inch  wire  into  the  form  of  a  very  crooked 
S.  This  can  be  hooked  over  the  limb  of  the  tree  so  as 
to  leave  the  picker  free  to  use  both  hands.  When  the 
picking  is  being  done  in  large  trees  this  same  hook 
allows  the  basket  to  be  let  down  to  the  ground  by  a 
strap  or  rope,  where  it  is  emptied  by  an  assistant,  thus 
making  it  unnecessary  for  the  picker  to  climb  up  and 
down  the  tree  for  every  basketful. 

Picking  is  greatly  expedited  by  the  use  of  suitable 
ladders.  The  best  ones  are  of  two  forms.  The  first 
form  is  the  stepladder,  which  should  always  have 
three  legs  instead  of  four.  These  stepladders  are 
made  in  large  quantities  now  for  this  particular  kind 
of  work.  It  is  probably  cheapest  to  buy  ready-made 
ladders  if  any  considerable  number  is  wanted.  Of 
course,  any  handy  man  can  make  one  or  two  such 
stepladders  if  that  is  more  convenient  than  to  buy 
them. 

The  second  type  of  ladder  used  in  apple  picking  is 
adapted  for  taller  trees.  It  is  of  the  ordinary  form; 
that  is,  with  two  rails.  Very  often  the  two  rails  are 
brought  together  at  the  top,  making  the  top  pointed. 
This  makes  it  easier  to  adjust  the  ladder  securely  into 
or  against  the  top  of  the  large  apple  tree.  This  ladder 
should  also  be  as  light  and  strong  as  possible.  They 
are  made  in  large  numbers  and  sold  at  low  prices. 

Various  practices  prevail  with  regard  to  the  immedi- 
ate disposal  of  apples  when  they  are  taken  from  the 


154  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

trees.  Sometimes  they  are  placed  in  piles  on  the 
ground.  Sometimes  they  are  put  into  barrels  without 
sorting  and  left  in  the  orchard;  sometimes  they  are 
put  unsorted  into  barrels  and  carried  to  the  temporary 
storage  house ;  sometimes  they  are  immediately  sorted, 
barreled,  headed  up  and  sent  to  storage.  If  the  stock 
is  going  to  cold  storage,  which  is  now  the  customary 
method,  the  last  named  plan  of  handling  the  fruit  is 
undoubtedly  the  best.  It  certainly  is  a  mistake  in  all 
cases  to  leave  the  fruit  on  the  ground  even  for  a  few 
hours.  If  there  is  good  storage  at  home  and  handy  by, 
it  is  a  very  good  practice  to  put  the  apples  into  barrels 
unsorted  and  take  them  immediately  to  the  storage 
house,  where  they  can  be  sorted  and  packed  more  at 
leisure.  Under  all  circumstances,  however,  they  ought 
to  be  put  into  as  cool  a  place  as  possible  with  the  least 
possible  delay.  In  handling  fancy  grades  of  stock  in 
barrels,  it  is  probably  best  to  pick  the  fruit,  sort,  pack 
and  head  it  up  at  once  and  put  it  immediately  into  cold 
refrigerator  cars,  sending  these  off  as  expeditiously  as 
possible  to  the  cold-storage  plant.  This  method  is 
actually  practiced  on  a  large  scale  by  some  of  the  best 
growers.  There  is  no  extraordinary  expense  in  it ;  in 
fact,  nothing  out  of  common  except  the  expense  of  the 
refrigerator  cars,  which  has  been  shown  to  be  profit- 
able with  good  fruit. 

When  apples  are  taken  to  the  temporary  storage 
houses  without  sorting,  it  is  best  to  grade  them  over  as 
soon  as  convenient.  This  is  more  necessary  if  the 
grade  of  the  fruit  is  low.  If  there  is  considerable  fun- 
gus, they  should  be  sorted  at  once,  all  first-grade  fruit 
being-  put  by  itself.  In  case  the  fruit  comes  from  the 
trees  in  extra  good  condition,  with  no  fungus  and  very 
few  culls,  there  is  not  so  much  urgency  in  this  early 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  155 

I 

sorting.  In  general,  however,  it  is  a  mistake  to  leave 
the  fruit  ungraded,  as  is  sometimes  done,  up  to  the 
time  when  it  is  sent  to  market,  which  may  be  late  in 
the  spring. 

SORTING   APPLES 

The  grading  of  the  fruit  is  extremely  important 
from  every  point  of  view.  There  is  hardly  anything 
which  affects  the  price  secured  more  than  this.  Many 
fine  apples  bring  outrageously  low  prices,  because  they 
are  carelessly,  ignorantly,  or  deceitfully  graded  and 
packed. 

Proper  grading  requires  good  judgment  and  con- 
siderable experience.  The  man  who  sorts  and  packs 
the  fruit  should  be  the  expert  of  the  gang.  The  man- 
ager can  afford  to  pay  him  good  wages,  although,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  such  men  rarely  secure  more  than 
$2  a  day. 

Some  men  spread  the  fruit  on  the  ground  for  sort- 
ing. It  is  a  good  deal  better  to  have  sorting  tables, 
which  should  be  3  feet  wide  and  6  to  8  feet  long. 
They  should  be  8  inches  deep,  and  should  be  put  on 
trestles  or  legs  so  as  to  stand  about  3  feet  4  inches 
from  the  ground.  It  is  good  policy  to  have  the  bot- 
tom and  sides  padded  to  prevent  bruising  of  the  fruit. 
We  have  frequently  seen  the  bottoms  made  with  slats, 
the  idea  being  to  allow  the  leaves  and  other  rubbish 
to*  sift  through.  This  is  not  a  good  practical  con- 
struction. In  the  first  place,  it  weakens  the  bottom, 
and  in  the  second  place,  these  slats  are  always  inclined 
to  bruise  the  fruit  more  or  less.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  dispose  of  the  rubbish  in  some  other  way. 

On  the  table  like  that  here  described  from  two  to 
four  barrels  of  fruit  can  be  spread  out  at  once.  It  is 


156 


THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 


desirable  to  have  a  considerable  quantity  of  fruit 
within  the  reach  of  the  man  who  is  sorting  in  order 
that  he  may  work  rapidly  and  secure  a  uniform  grade. 
Some  of  these  sorting  tables  are  made  with  a  chute 
or  spout  at  one  end,  usually  furnished  with  a  cloth 
spout  leading  into  the  barrel,  through  which  the  apples 


PACKING  AND  HEADING  BARRELS 


are  allowed  to  run.  If  managed  with  some  care  the  ap- 
ples can  be  handled  in  this  way  without  severe  bruis- 
ing. In  the  judgment  of  the  writer  it  is  much  better, 
however,  to  sort  the  apples  into  baskets.  These  should 
be  of  the  kind  already  described  for  picking.  The  half- 
bushel  swinging-bail  basket  can  be  ht  down  into  the 


HARVESTING  AND    MARKETING'  157 

barrel  and  the  fruit  poured  out  with  a  minimum  of 
bruising. 

It  is  desirable  that  sorting  be  done  as  much  as  pos- 
sible by  one  man.  Frequent  shifting  about  on  this  job 
always  gives  an  uneven  grading  of  fruit. 

The  question  of  whether  a  certain  apple  should  be 
put  into  the  first  or  into  the  second  grade  is  largely  a 
matter  of  judgment  in  the  end.  It  depends  also  upon 
the  run  of  the  lot.  If  the  apples  are  all  running  large, 
then  medium-sized  specimens  should  be  put  among 
the  seconds.  In  other  words,  it  is  more  important  that 
a  barrel  of  apples  should  be  uniform  in  size  than  that 
they  should  attain  any  particular  size.  The  question 
is  relative  rather  than  absolute. 

Nevertheless  the  Apple  Shippers'  Association  has 
adopted  a  rule,  which  is  departed  from  when  neces- 
sary, and  which  is  enforced  in  critical  cases.  Their 
rule  is  as  follows: 

"The  standard  for  size  for  No.  I  apples  shall  be  not 
less  than  2^/2  inches  in  diameter,  and  shall  include  such 
varieties  as  Ben  Davis,  Willow  Twig,  Baldwin,  Green- 
ing, and  other  varieties  kindred  in  size.  The  standard 
for  such  varieties  as  Romanite,  Russet,  Winesap,  Jon- 
athan, Missouri  Pippin,  and  other  varieties  kindred  in 
size  shall  not  be  less  than  2j4  inches.  And,  further, 
No.  i  apples  shall  be  at  time  of  packing  practically  free 
from  the  action  of  worms,  defacement  of  surface,  or 
breaking  of  skin ;  shall  be  hand  picked  from  the  tree, 
a  bright  and  normal  color  and  shapely  form. 

"No.  2  apples  shall  be  hand  picked  from  the  tree; 
shall  not  be  smaller  than  2>4  inches  in  diameter.  The 
skin  must  not  be  broken  or  the  apple  bruised.  The 
grade  must  be  faced  and  packed  with  as  much  care  as 
No.  i  fruit." 


158  CHE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

THE  APPLE   BARREL 

Before  going  on  to  see  how  apples  are  packed,  it  will 
be  best  to  stop  a  moment  to  consider  the  standard 
apple  packages.  Of  these  the  barrel  stands  first. 

The  standard  American  apple  barrel  has  the  follow- 
ing dimensions:  diameter  at  top,  17*4  inches;  circum- 
ference at  middle,  64  inches;  length  of  staves,  28>< 
inches.  This  is  known  everywhere  as  the  standard  ap- 
ple barrel,  or  the  ico-quart  barrel. 

In  Nova  Scotia,  and  occasionally  in  Ontario,  an- 
other barrel  is  used  considerably  different  from  the 
one  just  described.  It  is  just  a  trifle  longer,  but 
the  most  distinctive  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
staves  are  straighter.  The  barrel  is  made  nearly 
cylindrical.  The  dimensions  of  the  Nova  Scotia  bar- 
rel are:  diameter  of  top,  17^/2  inches;  diameter  at 
middle,  19  inches;  length  of  staves,  29  inches.  The 
two  barrels  may  be  more  readily  compared  in  the  fol- 
lowing table: 

COMPARISON    OF    NOVA    SCOTIA    AND    AMERICAN    APPLE 
BARRELS 

Diameter    Diameter      Length  of 
at  Top         at  Middle     Staves  Capacity 

American 17^       20  1-3     28*^       100  Quarts 

Nova    Scotia...      17^       19  29  96  Quarts 

The  American  apple  barrel  is  a  stronger  package 
than  the  Nova  Scotia  barrel  and  will  stand  rough 
handling,  such  as  loading  on  and  off  cars  and  trucks, 
better  than  the  straight  stave  barrel.  When  it  comes 
to  shipping  by  boat  across  the  Atlantic,  however,  the 
Nova  Scotia  barrel  has  the  call.  This  is  because  the 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  159 

longer,  straighter  barrel,  when  stowed  on  its  side  on 
shipboard,  does  not  rock  so  much  as  the  barrel  with 
bended  staves.  It  therefore  keeps  the  fruit  in  better 
condition  in  going  across. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  certain  advantage  to  the 
grower  in  using  a  96-quart  barrel  in  place  of  a  100- 
quart  barrel.  Four  quarts  of  apples  are  worth  saving. 
At  this  rate  a  man  would  gain  one  barrel  in  25,  which 
would  be  a  saving  of  4%.  In  most  factories  any  ad- 
justment which  accomplishes  a  saving  of  4%  is  con- 
sidered well  worth  making.  A  smaller  barrel  furnishes 
an  even  three  bushels,  which  is  all  the  purchaser  is 
really  entitled  to.  The  question  of  adopting  the  96- 
quart  barrel  in  the  United  States  has  often  been  dis- 
cussed, but  the  proposition  has  never  made  much  head- 
way. It  will  doubtless  be  a  long  time  before  we  ever 
come  to  it. 

Apple  barrels  are  made  out  of  all  sorts  of  lumber,  us- 
ually from  such  timber  as  is  not  very  valuable  for  other 
purposes.  Elm  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent  and 
makes  a  good  barrel.  Hickory  used  to  be  used,  but  it 
is  now  too  expensive.  Hemlock  and  spruce  are  used 
to  some  extent;  so  is  cheap  pine.  Chestnut  and  birch 
are  occasionally  worked  up  into  barrels.  The  hoops 
are  usually  made  out  of  the  same  stock,  although  occa- 
sionally timber  which  is  not  fit  for  anything  else  is 
worked  up  into  hoop  stock.  In  some  parts  of  the 
country  split  hoops  are  used,  in  which  case  young 
birches  and  large  alders  are  worked  up. 

The  best  method  for  one  buying  apple  barrels  is  to 
get  them  knocked  down,  staves,  heads  and  hoops  sepa- 
rate. It.  is  best,  of  course,  to  buy  this  stock  in  car  lots. 
It  is  then  delivered  on  the  farm  of  the  grower  to  be 
worked  up  into  barrels  on  the  premises.  A  small 


l6o  THE  AMERICAN  APPLE  ORCHARD 

cooper  shop  can  be  easily  rigged  up.  In  the  apple- 
growing  sections  itinerant  coopers  go  about  from 
farm  to  farm  during  the  summer  and  autumn  working 
this  stock  up  into  barrels.  A  good  handy  man  on  the 
farm,  with  a  little  practice,  can  learn  to  put  up  apple 
barrels  himself.  A  small  kit  of  tools  is  required,  but 
nothing  very  elaborate  or  expensive.  The  apple  bar- 
rels made  up  in  this  way  cost  all  the  way  from  15  to 
35  cents  each,  depending  very  largely,  of  course,  on 
the  original  cost  of  the  stock.  During  the  last  two 
years  stock  has  been  very  scarce  and  high,  owing,  it 
is  said,  to  the  operation  of  a  barrel  trust.  At  present 
the  production  of  barrel  stock  seems  to  be  catching  up 
with  the  demand,  and  the  tendency  is  toward  easier 
prices. 

In  many  places  it  is  customary  to  use  second-hand 
barrels  for  packing  apples.  The  common  flour  barrels 
are  the  ones  usually  impressed  into  this  service.  A 
common  flour  barrel  has  the  same  capacity  and  di- 
mensions as  the  standard  apple  barrel,  and  answers 
the  purpose  fairly  well.  However,  a  second-hand  bar- 
rel can  never  be  made  to  look,  as  good  as  new.  In 
many  cases  dirty  barrels  are  bought  and  are  used 
without  proper  cleaning.  In  such  cases  they  detract 
greatly  from  the  appearance  of  the  fruit,  and  the  com- 
mission man  knocks  off  the  price  accordingly.  The 
apple  grower  who  has  a  considerable  crop  to  handle 
cannot  afford  to  bother  with  flour  barrels.  He  should 
by  all  means  use  fresh  made  apple  barrels. 

APPLE  BOXES 

t 

During  recent  years  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of 
discussion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  apple  box.  Many 
growers  believe  that  there  is  a  future  for  apples 


HARVESTING  AND    MARKETING  l6l 

packed  in  this  way.  While  the  use  of  the  box  has 
been  strenuously  objected  to  in  some  quarters,  espe- 
cially by  the  commission  men  and  fruit  dealers,  it  has 


LEVER  BARREL   PRESS 


not  always  been  clear  that  their  advice  was  disinter- 
ested. In  fact,  it  is  common  knowledge  that  in  some 
cases  they  have  bought  apples  in  barrels  and  re- 


102  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

packed  them  in  boxes,  making  quite  a  profit  for  them- 
selves thereby. 

The  writer  feels  justified  in  relating  here \a.n  item 
of  personal  experience.  A  few  years  ago  we  had  some 
Gravensteiri,  Mclntosh  and  Fameuse  apples  ready  for 
market  in  October.  We  wrote  to  the  commission  men 
with  whom  we  were  doing  business  at  that  time — a 
thoroughly  reliable  firm,  by  the  way — asking  them 
if  they  would  advise  us  to  ship  in  boxes.  Their  re- 
ply was  about  as  follows:  "The  fruit  is  yours.  You 
can  do  as  you  please  with  it.  Our  advice  would  be, 
however,  not  to  use  any  boxes."  Inasmuch  as  we 
were  anxious  to  learn  how  the  fruit  would  handle, 
and  as  we  had  the  boxes  on  hand,  we  divided  the  ship- 
ment, sending  one-half  in  barrels  and  one-half  in 
.boxes.  The  fruit  was  all  of  the  same  grade,  but 
that  in  boxes  was  wrapped  in  paper.  The  whole  lot 
was  .sent  to  the  commission  man  whose  advice  has 
just  been  quoted.  When  the  returns  came  back 
,we  found  that  the  barrels  had  sold  for  $2  each,  which 
was  the  top  quotation  at  the  time ;  but  the  boxes  had 
also  sold  for  $2  each.  In  other  words,  one  bushel  of 
apples  nicely  wrapped  and  packed  in  boxes  brought 
just  as  much  as  three  bushels  of  the  same  fruit  in  a 
barrel. 

The  three  boxes  cost  45  cents.  A  barrel  at  that 
time  was  worth  35  to  40  cents.  A  little  more  time 
was  consumed  in  packing  the  three  boxes  than  in 
packing  one  barrel.  The  cost  of  the  paper  wrapping 
may  be  fairly  disregarded. 

The  great  advantage  of  the  box  lies  not  so  much  in 
the  fact  that  it  displays  the  fruit  to  better  advantage, 
for  it  does  not  always  do  so,  but  in  the  fact  that  it  pre- 
sents a  quantity  of  fruit  which  many  consumers  prefer 


HARVESTING  AND   MARKETING  163 

to  purchase.  There  are  very  few  city  families  who 
find  it  convenient  or  economical  to  buy  a  barrel  at  one 
time.  The  quantity  is  more  than  the  family  will  con- 
sume without  waste,  and  there  is  no  place  in  the 
house  where  there  is  room  for  the  barrel  to  stand.  A 
bushel  of  apples,  however,  is  not  too  much  for  the 
smallest  family,  and  a  neat  square  box  can  be  easily 
stowed  even  in  a  New  York  city  flat. 

Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  use  of  the 
apple  box  will  be  extended.  This  does  not  mean, 
however,  that  it  will  supplant  the  apple  barrel.  It 
certainly  will  not  do  so,  at  least  for  many  years  to 
come.  The  apple  box  must  be  used  only  for  fancy 
grades  of  fruit.  This  is  not  so  much  because  the  pack- 
age costs  more  as  because  the  expense  of  selling  it  is 
somewhat  greater  and  because  the  person  buying  a 
package  of  this  kind  expects  it  to  contain  something 
good.  If  the  purchaser  buys  a  box  of  apples  and  finds 
the  fruit  inferior,  his  resentment  is  much  greater  than 
if  he  has  been  cheated  on  a  barrel  of  apples.  Most 
purchasers  have  grown  accustomed  to  being  more  or 
less  swindled  on  apples  in  barrels. 

A  great  many  different  boxes  have  been  proposed. 
These  have  been  of  different  sizes,  different  forms, 
and  differently  constructed.  We  seem  to  be  settling 
down  rather  rapidly,  however,  to  a  bushel  box  of 
standard  size  and  construction.  This  box,  which  is 
now  the  most  common,  has  the  following  inside  di- 
mensions: 10x11x20  inches.  This  gives  a  capacity  of 
2,200  cubic  inches.  A  standard  bushel  contains 
2,150.42  cubic  inches,  so  that  the  box  furnishes  a  little 
over  the  standard  struck  bushel  (not  a  heaping 
bushel). 

These  boxes  are   made  with  the  ends  of 


1 64 


THE   AMERICAN   APPLE  ORCHARD 


stuff,  and  with  the  top,  bottom  and  sides  of  lighter 
stuff.  These  last  may  run  anywhere  from  %  to  % 
inch,  but  ^  inch  stuff  is  about  right 

There   have  been  some   experiments   recently  with 
smaller  boxes,  especially  with  half-bushel  sizes.     The 


HEADING   UP  THE  BARREL — SCREW   PRESS 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  165 

writer  feels  confident  that  something  of  this  kind 
will  eventually  find  a  place  in  the  market,  but  noth- 
ing yet  has  been  accomplished  which  can  be  given 
general  recommendation. 

The  bushel  basket  has  been  used  to  some  extent, 
especially  in  the  Chicago  market,  for  apples,  and  has 
some  advantages.  It  is  easy  to  handle  and  pleases  the 
customer.  Such  bushel  baskets  with  covers  cost  about 
$12  a  hundred.  Half-bushel  baskets  of  the  same  form 
cost  from  $10  to  $11  a  hundred. 

PACKING  APPLES 

A  man  who  packs  apples  should  have  some  experi- 
ence, and  the  judgment  born  of  it,  in  order  to  do  his 
work  well.  Next  to  the  man  who  grades  the  fruit, 
the  one  who  packs  it  has  the  greatest  responsibility. 
Many  a  sale  of  good  fruit  has  been  spoiled  by  poor 
packing.  When  fruit  is  to  be  shipped  some  distance, 
as  across  the  ocean,  the  packing  must  be  irreproach- 
able. If  barrels  are  poorly  packed  the  fruit  works 
loose,  becomes  bruised,  and  in  many  instances  quite 
worthless. 

In  packing  a  barrel  with  apples  the  barrel  is  placed 
on  its  head  with  the  bottom  out.  Some  good  clean 
apples  are  put  in  for  "facers."  It  is  best  to  pour  in  20 
to  30  such  apples  at  the  start — just  about  enough  to 
cover  the  head.  The  packer  then  places  these  in 
even  circular  rows,  beginning  around  the  outside  and 
working  in,  setting  each  specimen  with  the  stem 
down.  It  is  important  to  see  that  the  apples  in  this 
first  tier — the  facers — fit  snugly  together.  Then  a 
second  tier  is  put  on,  facing  stems  down  like  the  first. 
Now  the  real  filling  of  the  barrel  begins.  The  sorted 


l66  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

fruit,  preferably  placed  in  the  swing-bail  half-bushel 
basket  already  recommended,  is  poured  in.  This  bas- 
ket can  be  let  down  into  the  barrel  and  emptied  with 
the  least  possible  disturbance  of  the  faced  layers.  After 
each  half  bushel  of  loose  fruit  has  been  poured  in 
the  barrel  should  be  vigorously  shaken.  This  shaking 
is  essential.  It  settles  the  fruit  together,  and  prevents 
the  otherwise  disastrous  loosening  when  the  barrel  is 
shipped.  When  the  barrel  is  practically  full  the  top 
layer  (which  will  be  the  bottom  layer  after  the  barrel 
is  packed)  is  faced  stems  out  in  as  neat  a  manner  as 
possible.  When  the  apples  are  all  in  and  this  last 
layer  of  facers  on,  the  fruit  should  stand  up  even  with 
or  very  slightly  above  the  top  of  the  barrel. 

The  head  (or  what  is  really  the  bottom  of  the  bar- 
rel) is  then  put  in  place.  A  barrel  press  is  now  neces- 
sary. There  are  two  types  of  barrel  press  in  common 
use — the  screw  and  the  lever  press.  The  writer  pre- 
fers the  latter.  With  either  one  the  heading  proceeds 
in  the  same  manner.  The  upper  hoops  of  the  barrel 
are  slightly  loosened.  The  head  is  pressed  down  even 
with  the  chines,  the  hoops  are  driven  home,  and  some 
sort  of  cleat  is  tacked  in  to  help  hold  the  head  in  place. 

The  barrel  is  then  marked  with  the  stencil  of  the 
grower  or  packer,  and  with  the  name  of  the  variety 
and  grade.  Sometimes  it  is  also  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  dealer  to  whom  it  is  to  be  shipped.  It  is 
then  ready  for  delivery,  either  to  the  buyer  or  to  the 
storage  house. 

In  packing  apples  in  boxes  the  fruit  is  all  put  in  by 
hand,  especially  when  it  is  to  be  wrapped  in  paper. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  get  the  boxes  full.  It  is  even 
harder  to  make  a  box  of  apples  full  and  tight  than 
a  barrel.  Some  shippers  cover  the  packed  fruit  with 


HARVESTING  AND   MARKETING  167 

paper  and  make  it  solid  by  putting  in  a  quantity  of 
excelsior  next  to  the  cover.  This  is  practiced  more 
especially  when  sending  boxes  across  the  ocean,  but 
is  not  to  be  generally  recommended. 

When  apples  are  nicely  packed  in  boxes  they  should 
go  in  rows  and  tiers  just  as  oranges  are  packed.  On 
the  Pacific  coast,  where  all  these  tricks  are  better  un- 
derstood than  on  this  side  of  the  Great  Divide,  they 
do  this  thing  excellently  well.  Mr.  E.  C.  Dickerson  of 
North  Yakima,  Wash.,  explains  his  methods  as  fol- 
lows : 

"There  are  some  30  or  40  commercial  sizes  of  ap- 
ples, covering  all  the  varieties  and  their  various 
grades,  which  can  be  packed  into  the  standard  ap- 
ple box  in  30  or  40  different  styles.  For  commercial 
packing  and  shipping  requirements  most  of  the  ordi- 
nary grades  of  apples  grown  can  be  handled  in  seven 
or  eight  different  styles  of  packing,  of  whiclj  six  dif- 
ferent styles  are  shown  and  described  below. 

"Figure  I  shows  a  four-row  box  of  apples.  This 
box  is  the  largest  sized  apple  than  can  be  packed  into 
the  four-row  grade.  The  box  contains  just  96  apples. 
There  are  nine  grades  of  the  four-row  apple,  the 
smallest  of  which  is  shown  in  Figure  2  and  contains 
128  apples.  Every  layer  in  this  box  of  128  is  packed 
in  the  same  manner  as  that  shown  by  the  top  layer.  In 
the  box  containing  96  the  width  is  too  great  to  allow 
of  their  cheeks  being  all  turned  up,  so  in  the  layers  be- 
low, according  to  the  size  of  the  apples,  one  or  more 
of  the  layers  are  placed  stem  down. 

"Figure  3  shows  the  largest  apples  that  can  be 
packed  into  the  five-row  grade.  The  box  contains 
just  140  specimens.  This  grade  cannot  be  packed 


[68  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

FIG  I.  ^ 


FIG  2 


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crromoo 


FIG  3 


DIAGRAMS   SHOWING   METHODS   OF  BOX   PACKING 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  iCK) 


PIG  4 


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OCXXXDOCDO 


ooooxrooc 


FIG  5 


iJiiiii: 


FIG  6 


DIAGRAMS   SHOWING   METHODS   OF  BOX   PACKING 


I7O  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

with  a  long  and  narrow  apple,  as  there  must  be  four 
layers  in  this  box. 

"Figure  4  shows  the  smallest  five-row  apple  that 
can  be  packed  in  this  grade.  The  box  contains  five 
layers  and  250  apples.  All  the  layers  in  this  grade 
are  placed  in  the  same  manner  as  shown  in  the  top 
layer.  This  grade  cannot  be  packed  with  a  long  ap- 
ple. The  five-row  grades,  which  are  sometimes  called 
straight  fives,  are  found  in  23  different  grades  reach- 
ing from  140  down  to  250  specimens  in  each  box. 

"Figure  5  shows  an  odd  grade  of  five-row  apples. 
Without  this  style  of  a  pack  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  pack  all  the  apples  from  the  orchard  and  have  them 
all  packed  neatly  and  correctly.  The  box  shown  in 
Figure  5  contains  213  apples.  In  this  grade  the  center 
of  every  apple  in  the  third  and  fifth  layers  comes  di- 
rectly over  the  center  of  its  corresponding  apple  in 
the  first  layer.  The  center  of  every  apple  in  the 
fourth  layer  comes  directly  over  the  center  of  its  mate 
in  the  second  layer.  There  are  three  grades  of  this 
style.  In  one  the  first  row  will  contain  eight  apples, 
the  second  seven,  the  third  eight  again  and  then  seven 
and  eight,  making  a  total  of  188  apples  in  the  box.  In 
the  second  grade  of  this  style,  the  first,  last  and  every 
row  will  contain  eight  apples,  with  the  box  holding 
just  200  specimens.  In  the  third  grade  of  this  style 
the  first,  third  and  fifth  rows  will  contain  nine  apples, 
while  the  second  and  fourth  will  contain  only  eight, 
making  the  box  hold  213  apples. 

"The  sixth  and  last  style  of  packing  shown  is  rep- 
resented by  Figure  6.  This  box  will  contain  72  aP~ 
pies.  Only  the  first  of  its  four  layers  is  shown.  The 
cores  of  all  apples  in  the  third  layer  will  come  directly 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  17! 

over  their  mates  in  the  first  layer,  but  not  over  the 
cores  of  any  apples  in  the  second  layer. 

"Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  various  grades  of 
six-row  apples,  as  they  are  too  small  to  offer  to  the  ap- 
ple-eating public,  though  some  pack  and  ship  them  to 
the  penny  fruit  stands.  The  top  layers  of  the  ap- 
ples in  any  of  the  grades  must  be  high  enough  that 
when  the  cover  is  nailed  on,  the  cover  will  touch  each 
and  every  apple  in  that  layer  and  touch  it  hard  enough 
to  compel  every  apple  in  the  box  to  remain  in  touch 
with  its  neighbor  apple  in  the  box,  the  walls  of  the 
box  itself,  or  both,  as  the  case  may  be,  throughout  its 
entire  period  of  transportation. 

"When  a  box  is  finished  packed  the  apples  at  the 
end  of  the  box  must  not  be  more  than  I  inch  above  the 
top  of  the  box,  while  the  center  of  the  box  should  be 
from  i  to  2  inches  higher,  so  as  to  make  a  beautiful 
curve  for  the  top  of  the  box,  which  helps  to  hold  the 
apples  in  the  box  together  more  snugly.  Though 
every  person  has  not  the  gift  for  the  making  of  a  good 
apple  packer,  most  of  them  after  a  careful  reading  of 
the  above  can  after  more  or  less  practice  succeed  in 
packing  neatly  and  rapidly.  But,  remember,  practice 
makes  perfect.  In  box  apple  packing  rapidity  and 
perfection  do  not  go  hand  in  hand." 

APPLE  STORAGE 

The  storage  of  apples  presents  one  of  the  largest 
factors  in  the  modern  apple  business,  because  the  bulk 
of  the  trade  is  with  winter  fruit,  which  is  always 
.stored  for  a  greater  or  less  period.  Even  from  the 
first  there  has  been  some  storage.  In  olden  days  ap- 
ples used  to  be  stored  in  piles  in  the  orchard,  in  pits  in 


172  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

the  ground,  in  bulk  in  the  haymow,  in  bins  in  the  cel- 
lar, and  in  various  other  ways.  Nearly  all  of  these 
old-fashioned  ways  are  still  practiced  to  some  extent, 
although  they  have  very  little  influence  on  the  modern 
apple  business. 

Following  these  crude  methods  of  storage  there 
came  into  practice  a  few  years  ago  different  methods 
of  handling  apples  in  specially  made  storage  houses. 
At  the  beginning  these  were  seldom  or  never  sup- 
plied with  artificial  refrigeration.  The  theory  of  con- 
struction was  simply  to  provide  a  well-insulated  wall 
and  then  to  cool  down  the  storage  chamber  by  ven- 
tilation. Such  houses  or  storage  compartments  are 
now  all  classed  together  under  the  name  "common 
storage,"  which  is  distinguished  from  "cold  storage," 
the  latter  referring  to  such  houses  or  chambers  as  are 
supplied  with  artificial  refrigeration. 

There  has  been  a  strong  tendency  in  the  last  few 
years  to  do  away  with  the  common  storage  in  favor 
of  the  genuine  cold  storage.  Great  improvements 
have  undoubtedly  been  made  in  the  process  of  cold 
storage,  and  the  matter  is  much  better  understood 
than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  Such  storage  is  there- 
fore both  safer  and  cheaper.  Nevertheless  the  com- 
mon storage  has  not  altogether  gone  out  of  use.  One 
of  the  largest  dealers  in  New  York  state — a  man  of 
wide  practical  experience  in  all  systems  of  storage — 
recently  told  the  writer  that  he  would  as  soon  have 
apples  in  common  storage  as  in  the  best  cold  storage. 
This  is  perhaps  an  extreme  view,  but  it  shows  that 
the  difference  between  the  two  systems  is  not  so  great 
as  we  have  sometimes  been  led  to  believe. 

The  construction  of  a  house  for  common  storage 
may  best  be  understood  by  examining  one  or  two  con- 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  173 

crete  cases.  As  one  example,  we  may  take  the  storage 
house  of  Mr.  Charles  L.  Green,  of  East  Wilton,  Maine, 
built  in  1903.  This  building  is  30x40  feet,  with  1 2-foot 
posts  upon  the  sills.  It  also  has  a  cellar  or  lower 
story  dug  out  of  a  gravel  bank  and  facing  toward  the 
south.  There  is  a  large  door  to  this  basement  story 
so  a  load  of  apples  can  be  backed  in  without  unload- 
ing. The  cellar  walls  are  built  of  quarried  granite 
laid  solid  in  cement.  The  underpinning  is  of  granite 


A  COMMERCIAL  VENTILATED  STORAGE  HOUSE 
IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 

laid  in  Portland  cement  and  lined  with  brick.  The 
basement  will  hold  1000  barrels,  and  the  first  floor  will 
hold  approximately  the  same  amount. 

The  building  is  sheathed  on  the  outside  with 
matched  hemlock  covered  with  thick  sheathing  paper 
and  this  in  turn  covered  with  clapboards  and  well 
painted.  The  studding  were  also  sheathed  again  in- 
side and  then  a  new  course  of  studding  set  around 
inside  of  the  first  and  sheathed  again.  This  gives  two 
dead  air  spaces  and  three  matched  sheathings  besides 


174  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

the  paper,  clapboards  and  paint.  The  floor  between 
the  storage  room  and  the  cellar  is  double,  with 
hemlock  for  the  under  course  and  matched^  birch  on 
top  with  heavy  paper  between.  Both  storage  rooms 
have  double  doors  and  windows  with  matched  board 
blinds  inside.  There  is  an  attic  room  which  will  ac- 
commodate 1,200  empty  barrels.  The  building  cost 
$1,200. 

Another  very  excellent  building  for  the  common 
storage  of  apples  which  has  been  frequently  de- 
scribed and  which  is  certainly  a  model  of  its  kind 
is  that  owned  by  Mr.  T.  L.  Kinney,  of  South  Hero, 
Vermont.  This  house  was  built  in  1888  and  stands 
30x50  feet  on  the  ground.  It  has  a  basement 
which  will  accommodate  1,000  barrels,  ^  and  the 
main  floor  will  receive  an  equal  number.  There  is 
an  attic  for  the  storage  of  empty  barrels,  cooper's 
stock,  etc.  The  walls  are  constructed  in  the  following 
manner:  The  studding  are  3x4  inches.  On  the  out- 
side is  a  course  of  i-inch  matched  pine  covered 
with  building  paper  and  again  with  clapboards.  On 
the  sides  of  the  studs  small  furring  strips  are  run  in. 
Upon  these  a  lath  and  plaster  coat  is  made  from  stud 
to  stud.  This  produces  a  double  dead  air  space.  On 
the  inside  of  the  stud  is  another  i  inch  course  of 
matched  pine  covered  by  building  paper  and  by 
J^-inch  boards  all  over  the  inside.  There  are  glass 
windows  and  heavy  matched  board  blinds.  This 
house  cost  $1,500  and  has  been  successful. 

Various  other  houses  more  or  less  like  the  two  here 
described  have  been  built  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
So  far  as  the  writer  knows  these  have  proved  uni- 
formly successful  in  the  northern  states  where  they 
have  been  well  built  and  intelligently  managed.  In 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  175 

the  southern  states  they  are  less  satisfactory,  and  in 
any  case  they  are  unreliable  when  mismanaged. 

The  two  important  things  to  be  looked  after  in 
building  these  houses  for  common  storage  are  (i)  in- 
sulation, and  (2)  ventilation. 

Insulation  is  provided  as  described  above  by  mak- 
ing very  tight  walls  with  dead  air  spaces.  Formerly 
it  was  recommended  to  fill  the  spaces  with  sawdust  or 
some  similar  material.  This  is  now  known  to  be  in- 
advisable. 

Ventilation  should  be  secured  by  having  a  reason- 
able number  of  windows  which  may  be  easily  opened 
and  shut.  These  should  be  near  the  floor  or  else  spe- 
cial ventilators  should  be  provided  at  the  floor  level, 
opening  on  all  sides  of  the  building.  An  adequate  dis- 
charge for  warm  air  must  also  be  provided  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  storage  room.  This  is  usually  se- 
cured by  ventilating  shafts  running  from  the  storage 
room  to  the  roof.  A  circulation  of  air  can  be  secured 
at  critical  times  with  this  construction  by  lighting  a 
lamp  and  placing  it  on  a  small  shelf  in  the  ventilating 
shaft.  The  windows  of  such  storage  houses  are 
opened  at  night  when  the  temperature  is  low  and  are 
closed  early  in  the  morning  before  the  thermometer 
goes  up.  In  this  way  a  storage  house  can  be  thor- 
oughly cooled  off  and  can  be  held  at  a  very  uniform 
temperature  when  once  it  is  cooled.  Of  course  the 
cooling  is  not  so  positive  as  with  artificial  refrigera- 
tion, nor  can  it  be  so  quickly  accomplished. 

The  construction  of  cold  storage  houses  with  arti- 
ficial refrigeration  is  rather  a  complicated  matter, 
which  even  the  refrigeration  engineers  do  not  under- 
stand any  too  well.  It  would  be  going  too  far  to  take 


176 


HARVESTING  AND    MARKETING  177 

up   that   matter    here,    especially   as   very    few   apple 
growers  ever  undertake  to  build  such  storage  houses. 

The  ordinary  practice  in  dealing  with  cold  storage  - 
is  for  the  grower  or  buyer  to  send  the  apples  to  a  re- 
frigerating house  in  the  city.     Space  in  these  houses  f 
is  rented.     The  ordinary  price  is  from  30  to  50  cents 
a  barrel  for  the  season.     A    certain     temperature    is 
guaranteed.     The  apples  may  then  be  removed  when- 
ever the  owner  desires. 

It  should  be  clearly  understood  by  every  one  who 
undertakes  the  cold  storage  of  apples  that  the  func- 
tion of  the  storage  house  is  merely  to  maintain  a  uni- 
form temperature  of  a  desired  degree  throughout  the 
compartment  and  during  the  storage  season.  Cold 
storage  will  not  make  number  one  fruit  out  of  number 
two,  nor  will  it  altogether  prevent  the  natural  proc- 
ess of  deterioration.  It  simply  checks  the  ordinary 
processes  of  decay.  It  appears  that  many  persons 
have  expected  too  much  of  cold  storage  in  the  past. 

While  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  apple  grower  to 
know  about  the  different  systems  of  mechanical  re- 
frigeration, it  is,  nevertheless,  a  matter  of  consider- 
able interest  to  him.  Storage  rooms  are  sometimes 
cooled  directly  with  ice,  although  the  direct  cooling 
systems  are  not  in  very  common  use.  Usually  the 
rooms  are  cooled  by  the  evaporation  of  the  liquid 
gases.  The  gas  is  allowed  to  evaporate  in  or  near 
the  storage  room  and  during  its  evaporation  it  takes 
up  the  heat  from  the  room  or  fruit,  thereby  lowering 
the  temperature. 

The  following  description  of  the  methods  usually 
employed  is  taken  from  G.  Harold  Powell's  bulletin 
entitled  "The  Apple  in  Cold  Storage." 


178  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

"The  refrigerating  gases  generally  used  are  anhy- 
drous ammonia,  sulphuric  acid,  and  carbonic  acid 
(also  known  as  carbon  anhydrid)  and  carbon  dioxide. 
The  cold  temperature  in  the  warehouses  is  usually 
produced  by  either  of  two  methods,  commonly  known 
as  the  compression  and  the  absorption  systems. 

"The  compression  system  takes  its  name  from  the 
fact  that  the  refrigerating  gas — whether  ammonia, 
carbonic  acid,  or  sulphuric  acid — is  first  compressed 
in  a  machine  called  a  compressor.  Heat  is  generated 
by  the  compression;  the  gas  is  then  cooled  and  con- 
densed in  pipes  or  coils  called  the  condenser,  either 
immersed  m  water  or  having  water  running  over 
them,  and  this  converts  the  gas  into  a  licjuid.  The 
liquefied  gas  then  passes  an  expansion  valve  to  pipes 
or  coils  called  the  refrigerator  cooling  coils  or  cooler, 
where  it  is  evaporated  by  the  heat  which  is  with- 
drawn from  the  surroundings.  The  gas  formed  by 
the  evaporation  of  the  liquid  returns  to  the  compress- 
or, is  again  condensed,  then  re-evaporated,  and  the 
cycle  of  refrigeration  is  repeated  over  and  over. 

"In  the  absorption  system  the  gas  is  obtained  by 
heating  strong  aqua  ammonia  in  a  still,  thereby  driv- 
ing off  the  ammonia  gas.  The  gas  is  then  reduced  in 
a  condenser  to  a  liquid  in  a  manner  similar  to  the 
compression  system.  The  liquefied  ammonia  pro- 
duces refrigeration  by  evaporating  in  the  cooling 
coils,  and  the  gas  is  then  absorbed  by  weak  aqua 
ammonia  in  coils  called  an  absorber.  The  resulting 
strong  liquor  is  then  pumped  back  to  the  still.  The 
cycle  of  refrigeration  is  repeated  continuously,  and 
consists,  first,  in  the  generation  of  a  gas  by  heating 
strong  aqua  ammonia  in  a  still ;  second,  in  condensing 
the  gas  which  is  deposited  from  the  water  to  a  liquid 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  179 

in  the  condenser  coils;  third,  in  its  evaporation  to  a 
gas  in  the  cooling  or  refrigerator  coils;  fourth,  in  its 
absorption  by  the  weak  aqua  ammonia  in  the  absorber ; 
and  fifth,  the  ammonia  liquor  is  piped  to  the  still  and 
redistilled. 

"There  are  three  general  methods  of  producing  the 
desired  temperatures  in  cold-storage  rooms,  and  these 
are  known  as  the  direct-expansion,  the  brine- 
circulating,  and  the  indirect  or  air-circulating  sys- 
tems. All  three  systems  may  be  used  in  a  cold-storage 
plant,  and  in  a  given  room  or  compartment  the  air- 
circulating  system  is  sometimes  used  in  connection 
•with  the  brine  or  the  direct-expansion  systems. 

"In  the  direct-expansion  systems,  the  liquefied  gas 
evaporates  directly  in  the  cooling  refrigerator  coils  or 
pipes  which  are  placed  in  the  refrigerator  rooms.  The 
heat  used  in  the  evaporation  of  the  gas  is  absorbed 
from  the  room  or  from  its  contents,  and  the  tempera- 
ture is  thereby  reduced.  The  gas  then  returns  to  the 
compressor  in  the  compression  system,  or  to  the  ab- 
sorber in  the  absorption  system,  and  after  being  dis- 
tilled in  the  latter  case  begins  the  refrigerating  cycle 
anew. 

"In  the  brine-circulating  system,  the  liquefied  gas, 
instead  of  evaporating  directly  in  coils  in  the  storage 
room,  evaporates  in  pipes  surrounded  by  brine,  or  in  a 
brine  cooler.  The  heat  used  in  the  evaporation  of  the 
gas  is  absorbed  from  the  brine  rather  than  from  the 
room  and  its  contents,  as  in  the  direct-expansion  sys- 
tem. The  cold  brine  is  then  pumped  to  coils  in  the 
storage  room  and  the  heat  of  the  room  and  its  con- 
tents is  absorbed  by  the  cold  brine.  The  warm  brine 
is  then  returned  to  the  tank  or  cooler  from  which  it 
started  and  is  recooled,  while  the  gas  returns  to  the 


l8o  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

condenser  or  to  the  absorber  to  renew  the  cycle  of  re- 
frigeration. 

"In  the  indirect  or  air-circulating  system  the  air  in  a 
well-insulated  room,  which  is  sometimes  called  a  coil 
room  or  a  'bunker  room/  is  first  cooled,  either  by 
the  direct-expansion  or  by  the  brine-circulating  sys- 
tem. The  cold  air  of  the  coil  room  is  then  forced 
through  ducts  to  the  storage  rooms.  After  passing 
through  the  storage  rooms  it  is  returned  by  ducts  to 
the  coil  room  to  be  recooled  and  purified  and  to  begin 
the  circuit  anew." 

Extensive  experiments  in  the  cold  storage  of  fruit, 
especially  apples,  carried  on  by  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  under  the  supervision  of  G. 
Harold  Powell,  have  added  materially  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject  in  recent  years.  These  experi- 
ments have  strongly  emphasized  the  importance  of 
immediate  storage.  The  fruit  should  be  put  into  the 
storage  room  with  the  least  possible  delay  after  pick- 
ing. Indeed,  we  know  of  one  large  apple  grower  who 
has  cooled  refrigerator  cars  standing  on  the  railroad 
track  waiting  before  picking  begins.  Just  as  fast  as 
the  fruit  can  be  sorted  it  is  barreled  and  hauled  di- 
rectly into  these  refrigerator  cars.  These  cars  are 
rim  right  into  the  refrigerating  house  to  be  unloaded, 
so  that  the  apples  are  out  of  cold  storage  for  only  a 
few  hours  at  most  from  the  time  they  are  picked  un- 
til they  are  sold. 

It  used  to  be  thought  that  a  temperature  of  40  to 
42  degrees  was  best  for  storing  apples,  but  recent  ex- 
perience has  shown  conclusively  that  the  temperature 
in  the  storage  chamber  should  be  31  or  32  degrees, 
and  that  this  should  be  maintained  with  the  least  possi- 
ble variation  throughout  the  storage  season. 


HARVESTING   AND    MARKETING  l8l 

There  is  a  diversity  of  custom  with  respect  to  put- 
ting up  the  apples  for  storage.  Usually  they  are 
stored  in  barrels,  but  the  reason  for  this  is  often  that 
the  fruit  handles  more  easily  rather  than  that  men 
have  any  notion  that  the  apples  will  keep  better  when 
put  up  in  that  way.  In  fact,  a  good  many  fruit- 
growers who  practice  home  storage  of  apples  habit- 
ually store  the  fruit  in  bins.  This  is  not  the  best 
method.  In  fact,  it  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether 
storage  in  bins  is  ever  good  practice.  If  fruit  is  to 
be  stored  for  a  short  time  only  it  is  better  to  have  it 
in  a  small  package.  If  the  package  is  open  or  ven- 
tilated, so  much  the  better.  The  cold  air  reaches  all 
parts  of  the  receptacle  and  cools  off  all  the  fruit.  If 
apples  are  to  remain  some  time  in  storage,  however,  it 
is  better  to  have  them  in  closed  packages.  Probably 
the  best  that  can  be  done  is  to  have  them  headed  up 
in  barrels.  In  open  packages  the  fruit  is  likely  to  be 
injured  by  wilting. 

Wrapping  of  the  fruit  in  papers  as  it  is*  put  into  the 
package  nearly  always  helps  it  to  keep  better.  It  ex- 
tends the  life  of  apples  in  storage,  under  favorable 
conditions,  a  month  or  more. 

A  word  ought  to  be  said  in  this  connection  with  re 
gard  to  the  scald.  This  is  a  malady  which  appears 
badly  on  stored  fruit  sometimes,  especially  in  certain 
varieties,  such  as  Rhode  Island  Greening.  It  seems  to 
show  worse  on  fruit  that  is  picked  before  it  is  well 
colored  and  thoroughly  ripe.  A  warm  temperature 
in  the  storage  room  also  tends  to  promote  the  devel- 
opment of  the  scald. 


XVII 

» 

THE  FAMILY  ORCHARD 

THIS  book  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
commercial  fruit  grower.  It  attempts  to  interpret 
the  large  wholesale  methods  of  our  modern  extensive 
apple  orchards.  It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however, 
that,  while  the  great  bulk  of  the  American  apple  crop 
is  grown  in  this  way,  the  great  majority  of  people 
actually  interested  in  apple  growing  have  only  small 
home  orchards.  Some  attention  should  be  given  there- 
fore to  their  peculiar  problems. 

At  the  outset  we  must  emphasize  the  great  differ- 
ence that  exists  between  the  methods  proper  in  the 
commercial  orchard  and  those  to  be  recommended  for 
the  family  fruit  garden.  These  differences  are  many 
and  important,  yet  they  are  commonly  overlooked. 
The  small  farmer  is  apt  to  copy  the  methods  of  the 
great  fruit  grower,  and  almost  always  with  unsatis- 
factory results.  Of  course,  many  of  the  principles 
laid  down  in  previous  chapters  of  this  book  will  apply 
also  to  apple  growing  on  a  small  scale;  and  it  will 
be  our  task  now  to  point  out  those  modifications  of 
practice  necessary  in  passing  from  commercial  to 
amateur  fruit  growing. 

Let  us  consider  first  the  site  of  the  orchard.  The 
man  who  expects  to  grow  5,000  barrels  of  Baldwins 
or  Ben  Davis  annually  and  to  sell  them  in  competi- 
tion with  all  the  rest  of  the  apples  in  the  world,  must 
choose  a  particularly  favorable  site.  But  it  is  neither 
possible  nor  necessary  for  the  common  farmer  to  be 


THE    FAMILY   ORCHARD  183 

so  fastidious  in  his  choice.  He  must  grow  the  apples 
where  he  lives,  on  his  own  farm,  and  in  reasonable 
proximity  to  the  house.  However,  if  he  is  a  wise 
farmer,  knows  a  little  about  fruit  growing,  and  cares 
something  for  his  own  family,  he  will  select  a  good 
soil  and  site  for  his  fruit  garden,  knowing  that  this 
feature  of  his  work  does  more  to  make  a  home  out  of 
his  farm  than  anything  else  he  undertakes.  It  is  piti- 
ful to  see  a  farm,  as  one  rather  frequently  sees  it, 
having  its  orchard  located  on  a  rocky,  inaccessible 
knoll  too  rough  for  pasturing  goats,  or  in  a  swampy 
hollow  where  neither  corn  nor  potatoes  will  grow. 
Sometimes  the  low,  moist  site  seems  to  have  been 
chosen  in  the  belief  that  its  superior  soil  and  moisture 
supply  would  be  a  benefit  to  the  apple  trees ;  but  such 
is,  of  course,  not  the  fact.  Let  the  family  orchard  be 
located  conveniently  to  the  house ;  let  the  soil  be  deep, 
well  drained  and  fairly  fertile ;  let  the  place  be  capable 
of  good  tillage;  let  the  land  be  gently  sloping  if 
possible ;  and  above  all  let  it  not  be  in  the  bottom  of  a 
hollow,  swamp  or  ravine. 

Taking  up  next  the  choice  of  varieties,  we  come 
upon  a  most  radical  difference  between  professional 
and  amateur  fruit  growing.  The  commercial  grower 
chooses  one  or  two  standard  market  varieties,  which 
are  often  those  of  second  or  third  quality,  and  sticks 
strictly  to  these  sorts.  The  man  who  grows  fruit  for 
his  own  family  use  must  plant  a  much  larger  collection 
of  varieties.  He  will  want  some  early  summer  apples, 
some  ripening  in  fall,  others  for  winter — in  a  word, 
he  will  want  a  complete  succession  throughout  the 
entire  apple  season.  He  will  also  want  to  grow 
apples  of  the  finest  quality  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
some  of  these  varieties  are  shy  bearers  and  others  are 


A  DWARF  APPLE  TREE  22  INCHES  HIGH 
BEARING    FRUIT 


184 


THE   FAMILY   ORCHARD  185' 

subject  to  disease.     He  is  willing  to  take  some  extra 
pains  to  grow  the  family  favorites. 

It  will  be  instructive  at  this  point  to  contrast  more 
sharply  the  rules  of  choice  which  govern  in  profes- 
sional and  in  amateur  fruit  growing  respectively. 

RULES  FOR  CHOOSING   VARIETIES 

Commercial  Orchards  Home  Orchards 

Select  a  very  few  varieties  Select  many  varieties 

Choose  standard  market  sorts  Choose  family  favorites 

Give    only    second    thought  Put  quality  first 

to  quality  Provide  a  succession  of  varie- 
Prefer  late  5  keeping  winter  ties 

varieties  (the  old  rule,  sub-  Stick  to  some  good  varieties 

ject  to  exceptions)  in  spite  of  defects  of  tree 

Choose  only  hardy,  healthy  Test     occasional     promising 

sorts  novelties,    and  grow  some 

Plant  no  novelties  or  oddities          sweet  apples,  crabs,  etc. 

The  dwarf  apple  tree,  which  has  been  mentioned 
only  as  a  possible  filler  in  the  commercial  apple  or- 
chard, may  become  the  very  foundation  of  the  success- 
ful amateur  fruit  garden.  The  dwarf  tree  occupies 
less  room,  comes  earlier  into  bearing,  may  be  given 
better  care,  and  has  other  advantages  strongly  recom- 
mending it  to  those  who  must  grow  fruit  only  on  a 
small  scale.  In  the  suburban  fruit  garden  it  plays  a 
commanding  role.  These  facts  are  so  important  that 
the  author  has  devoted  an  entire  book  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  dwarf  fruit  trees  and  the  methods  of  their 
management.*  It  will  be  best  for  the  reader  who  is 
interested  in  dwarf  fruits  to  consult  that  work. 

The  amateur  orchardist,  whose  object  it  should  be 
to  grow  the  very  finest  fruit  without  special  re- 
gard to  cost,  ought  to  give  better  care  and  culture  to 
his  plantations  than  the  commercial  orchardist  does. 

«  Waugh,  Dwarf  Fruit  Trees,  Orange  Judd  Co.,  New  York. 


1 86  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

At  any  rate  he  should  give  the  best  care  of  which  he 
is  capable.  The  idea  of  keeping  a  family  orchard  in 
grass,  and  mowing  it  for  hay,  is  ridiculous;  yet  this 
plan  is  widely  followed.  As  the  family  apple  trees  will 
usually  be  grown  in  some  sort  of  garden  along  with 
the  family  peach,  plum  and  quince  trees,  the  currant 
and  gooseberry  bushes,  the  strawberries  and  possibly 
the  cabbages  and  tomatoes,  cultivation  is  all  the  more 
convenient  and  appropriate. 

In  the  matter  of  fertilization  the  difference  is  least 
between  the  management  of  the  home  orchard  and  the 
commercial  plantation.  The  methods  already  sug- 
gested in  this  book — pages  94-98 — may  be  safely 
followed.  As  the  small  grower,  however,  will  not 
care  to  mix  special  fertilizers  for  his  apple  trees,  he 
should  feel  at  liberty  to  use  some  other  formulas, 
more  convenient  to  secure,  though  possibly  less  exactly 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  apple  trees.  As  ready-mixed 
fertilizers  are  most  commonly  used  by  small  farmers 
and  householders,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  that  the  so- 
called  potato  fertilizers  sold  by  leading  manufacturers 
will  meet  the  requirements,  though  less  economically. 
Even  barnyard  manure,  though  quite  too  rich  in  ni- 
trogen, may  be  used  on  apple  trees  in  moderate  quan- 
tities without  danger.  There  are  thousands  of  apple 
trees  in  the  country  which  would  be  benefited  by  a 
good  ration  of  barnyard  manure;  but  the  writer 
cannot  remember  to  have  seen  apple  trees  anywhere 
injured  by  getting  too  much  of  this  sort  of  plant 
food. 

Pruning  in  the  home  orchard  will  follow  pretty 
much  the  same  lines  as  in  the  commercial  plantation. 
The  chief  difference  is  that  the  amateur  grower  can- 
not usually  supply  himself  with  such  a  complete  outfit 


THE   FAMILY   ORCHARD  187 

of  ladders  and  tools  as  the  man  who  has  80  or  100 
acres  to  prune. 

When  it  comes  to  spraying,  the  small  grower  will 
usually  be  obliged  to  content  himself  with  less  ma- 
chinery than  the  commercial  grower;  but  his  ideal 
should  be  to  do  as  good  or  better  spraying.  The 
best  sprayer  is  usually  the  barrel  pump — see  page  123 
— which  can  be  carried  about  on  an  ordinary  farm 
wagon,  sled  or  stone  boat.  Of  course  the  same  insects 
and  diseases  attack,  the  farm  orchard  as  the  com- 
mercial orchard,  and  are  to  be  fought  by  the  same 
means. 

The  man  who  is  growing  fruit  for  his  own  family 
use  will  usually  want  some  sort  of  storage.  Formerly 
apples  were  sometimes  stored  in  haymows  or  buried 
in  pits  in  the  garden,  but  such  crude  methods  do  not 
satisfy  the  people  of  the  present  generation.  Even  the 
better  plan  of  keeping  apples  in  the  general  cellar 
under  the  house  does  not  meet  the  wishes  of  many. 
When  the  house  cellar  is  to  be  used  a  special  com- 
partment should  be  done  off  for  apples  and  pears,  in 
which  the  temperature  can  be  kept  considerably  lower 
than  in  the  rest  of  the  cellar.  On  many  well-to-do 
farms  it  is  practicable  to  make  special  fruit  storage 
rooms  or  even  storage  houses.  Such  provision  can  be 
made  at  an  expenditure  varying  from  $300  to  $5,000. 
This  subject  is  separately  discussed  and  many  designs 
given  in  the  author's  book  on  handling  fruit.* 

*Waugh,  Fruit  Harvesting,  Storing,  Marketing,  Orange  Judd  Co, 
New  York. 


XVIII 

RENOVATION  OF  OLD  ORCHARDS 

THE  most  profitable  orchard  is  unquestionably  one 
that  is  thrifty  and  moderately  young.  It  is  an  orchard 
which  is  started  right  and  which  is  kept  on  the  right 
track  from  the  beginning.  Nevertheless  many  farms 
in  the  country  have  old  orchards  neglected  for  some 
time  and  partially  run  down  but  still  too  valuable  to 
be  abandoned.  While  such  plantations  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  the  best  basis  on  which  to  found  the  apple 
business,  they  are  still  worth  taking  into  consideration. 

There  is  no  question  about  the  practicability  of 
renovating  old  orchards  of  this  kind.  The  only  ques- 
tion is  with  respect  to  the  age  and  condition  of  the 
trees.  If  the  trees  form  a  satisfactory  stand  on  the 
ground,  that  is  to  say  from  60  to  90%  of  a  full  stand, 
and  if  they  are  not  too  badly  broken  by  disease  and 
neglect,  the  problem  of  bringing  them  into  profitable 
condition  is  a  fairly  simple  one.  As  a  rule  it  may  be 
said  that  trees  more  than  35  years  old,  those  which 
have  the  tops  badly  broken,  those  which  are  badly 
infested  with  canker  or  San  Jose  scale,  and  orchards 
in  which  the  stand  is  less  than'6o%,  or  those  which 
are  located  in  unsuitable  soil,  are  not  worth  the  labor 
and  expense  of  rejuvenation. 

In  case  it  seems  wise  to  undertake  the  rehabilitation 
of  one  of  these  old  orchards  the  procedure  is  fairly 
simple.  It  consists  merely  in  giving  the  best  possible 
treatment  all  along  the  line.  The  thing  cannot  be 

188 


RENOVATION  OF  OLD  ORCHARDS        189 

accomplished  by  the  application  of  any  one  specific 
remedy.    The  program  will  be  about  as  follows : 

1.  The  physical  condition  of  the  soil  must  be  im- 
proved.     This   will  mean   that  cultivation   should   be 
adopted    wherever    possible.      There    are    some    old 
orchards  worthy  of  rejuvenation  in  which  the  soil  can- 
not be  practically  cultivated,  but  the  majority  of  those 
orchards  which  will  not  pay  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  will  not  pay  either  for  the  rest  of  the  treatment. 
Cultivation  of  the  soil  in  an  old  orchard  which  has 
been  neglected  for  many  years  is  of  course  a  serious 
problem.    Too  much  must  not  be  expected  at  the  out- 
set.    The  ground  should  be  plowed  as  well  as  it  can 
be,  but  this  of  course  will  not  mean  nice  thorough 
tillage  from  the  beginning.    However,  better  cultivation 
can  be  given  the  second  year  than  the  first,  and  some 
improvements  made  in  succeeding  years.     After  the 
land  has  been  plowed  and  cross-plowed  the  soil  can 
be  worked  into  condition  with  a  spading  harrow.     It 
is  not  necessary  to  make  great  haste  in  this  direction. 
Indeed  it  is  better  that  the  subjugation  of  the  soil 
should  be  gradual. 

2.  Plant   food  must  be   provided.     In   practically 
all  cases  old  neglected  orchards  suffer  from  serious 
depletion  of  fertilizing  elements.     A  moderate  dress- 
ing of  barnyard  manure  is  an  excellent  beginning  in 
bringing  up   an   old   orchard.     As   a   rule,   however, 
it  is  better  to  proceed   with   considerable  caution   in 
applying  fertilizer  to  an  orchard  in  this  state  of  treat- 
ment.    It  is  easily  possible  to  overdo  this  matter. 

3.  The  trees  must  be  pruned.     This  part  of  the 
treatment  is  often  overdone  also.     The  best  practice 
is  to  begin  the  first  year  by  removing  only  dead  and 
broken  limbs.   This  work  should  be  done  in  March.   In 


I9O  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

June  of  the  same  year  another  moderate  pruning  may 
be  given,  removing  interfering  limbs  and  opening  the 
heads  somewhat  to  the  action  of  the  light.  As  a  rule 
it  will  be  best  to  take  out  this  time  only  about  one- 
third  to  one-half  of  the  total  amount  of  wood  to  be 
removed,  leaving  the  remainder  to  be  taken  out  the 
succeeding  June.  March  will  answer  for  this  sort  of 
pruning  also,  but  for  this  particular  purpose  June  is 
safer.  Trees  pruned  at  this  time  have  not  so  strong  a 
tendency  toward  the  formation  of  water  sprouts.  If 
the  trees  are  too  tall,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case,  it  will 
be  well  to  head  in  the  tops  and  side  branches  to  some 
extent.  This  will  serve  the  same  purpose,  in  some 
degree,  as  opening  up  the  center  of  the  tree.  Special 
attention  should  be  paid  in  all  this  pruning  to  the  re- 
moval of  diseased  and  broken  branches.  As  a  rule 
all  these  prunings  should  be  taken  out  and  burned. 

4.  The  trees  should  be  scraped.     The  trunks  and 
most  branches  will  always  be  found  covered  with  more 
or  less  old  shaggy  bark  which  furnishes  a  lodgment 
for  all  sorts  of  insects  and  fungous  spores.     In  order 
to  make  spraying  effective  it  is  very  desirable  that  this 
old  bark  be  removed.     Dealers   in  horticultural   im- 
plements have  for  sale  a  triangular  scraper  made  for 
this  express  purpose;  or  a  satisfactory  tool  could  be 
made  from  an  old  hoe. 

5.  Spraying  must  be  regularly  adopted.    Thorough 
and  systematic  spraying,  according   to  the   best   and 
strictest  rules,  must  be  kept  up  for  a  period  of  years  in 
order  to  overcome  the  results  of  that  neglect  from 
which  the  trees  have  suffered.     If  the  trees  are  in- 
fested with  oyster  shell  bark,  louse  or  with  San  Jose 
scale  the  appropriate  insecticides  must  be  applied      It 
is  also  necessary  under   all   circumstances  to   follow 


KKNUVAT1ON-    CXF    OLD    ORCHARDS  IQI 

up  this  treatment  with  regular  applications  of  bor- 
deaux. 

The  treatment  here  briefly  outlined  has  been  fully 
tested  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and  has  never  failed 
to  bring  satisfactory  results.  There  is  no  use,  how- 
ever, in  undertaking  this  kind  of  work  if  the  effort  is 
to  be  half  hearted. 


XIX 

THE  SELECTION  OF  VARIETIES 

ONE  of  the  most  important,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  which  the  fruit  grower  has  to 
solve  is  the  choice  of  the  varieties  he  is  to  grow. 
There  are  many  things  to  be  taken  into  consideration, 
and  the  novice  is  apt  to  be  influenced  by  many  notions 
and  prejudices  which  have  no  foundation  in  fact.  The 
following  principles  have  been  pretty  well  established 
by  the  experience  of  a  whole  generation  of  successful 
American  fruit  growers. 

1.  Choose  very  few  varieties  for  commercial  plan- 
tations.    Two  or  three  varieties  are  enough  for  most 
men.     Any  grower  who  now  has  even  five  varieties 
in  bearing  can  easily  show  himself  that  one  or  two  of 
them  are  decidedly  more  profitable  than  the  others.    It 
would  therefore  seem  the  part  of  wisdom  for  him  to 
discard  the  less  profitable  ones. 

2.  Choose  varieties  which  the  market  wants.     A 
man  may  think  that  Fameuse  is  a  better  apple  than 
Baldwin,  but  if  the  buyers   want   Baldwins  and   not 
Fameuse,  the  fruit  grower  must  grow  Baldwins. 

3.  Commercial  varieties  must  be  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  soil  and  climate  where  they  are  to  be  grown. 
A  man  can  grow  the  family  favorites  without  regard 
to  this  rule,  but  when  he  is  competing  with  thousands 
of  other  growers  for  a  profit  in  the  market  he  can- 
not afford  to  carry  any  unnecessary  handicap.     There 
is  much  yet  to  be  learned  regarding  the  niceties  of 
soil  and  climate  adaptations  of  varieties. 


THE   SELECTION    OF   VARIETIES 


4.  It  follows  that  no  man  should  plant  a  certain 
variety  simply  because  it  is  successful  in  some  other 
section   or  state.      Fruit  growing   in   the   Mississippi 
valley  states  was  retarded  one  whole  decade  because 
settlers  from  New  York  and  New  England  insisted  on. 
planting  Baldwin,  Spy,  Rhode  Island  Greening  and 
the  other  favorites  of  their  old  homes. 

5.  Nevertheless  each  apple  grower  should  exercise 
his  personal  prejudices  as  far  as  he  can  within  the 
list  of  varieties  which  will  succeed  in  his  section.     A 
man  whose  ideal  apple  is  the  Newtown  Pippin  will  do 
better  growing  that  variety.     The  value  of  this  rule 
is  commonly  underestimated. 

6.  Varieties  should  be  chosen  with  a  careful  view 
to  the  market  which  they  are  to  reach.     Cuban  and 
Southern  markets  can  use  Ben  Davis  to  advantage; 
the  English  market  will  pay  for  good  Russets  ;  the  Bos- 
ton market  wants  Baldwins  and  the  New  York  market 
wants  Greenings. 

7.  Late-keeping  winter  varieties  have  proved  most 
profitable  for  the  ordinary  growers  in  recent  years. 
As  a  rule  such  varieties  will  be  best  for  men  who 
grow  apples  on  a  large  scale  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  their  markets. 

8.  On  the  other  hand  very  early  varieties   have 
proved  most  profitable  for  a  certain  number  of  grow- 
ers.   Usually  these  early  varieties  should  be  chosen  for 
growing  near  large  markets,  or  wherever  the  grower 
can  dispose  of  his  crop  at  retail.     Extreme  southern 
localities  which  can  make  early  shipments  to  northern 
markets  also  find  first  early  sorts  most  profitable,  more 
especially    since    these    localities    cannot    grow    late- 
keeping  winter  stock  anyway.     There  are  certain  com- 


THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

mercial  advantages  in  handling  early  fruit,  such  as 
saving  the  expense  of  storage. 

9.  Medium  ripening  autumn  sorts  also  have  their 
place  and  take  the  lead  in  certain  sections.  In  north- 
ern sections  where  first  early  sorts  cannot  compete 
with  southern  grown  stock,  and  where  late-keeping 
winter  apples  cannot  be  produced  to  best  advantage, 
such  sorts  as  Wealthy  and  Mclntosh  may  be  highly 
profitable.  These  fall  varieties  fill  a  large  gap  in 
the  market  between  the  southern  earlies  and  the  stand- 
ard winter  apples.  The  market  is  more  closely  limited 
than  for  late  winter  stock,  and  the  fruit  must  be  skill- 
fully handled;  but  the  experience  of  many  men  in 
many  different  parts  of  the  country  shows  that  this  is 
an  attractive  commercial  field. 

These  suggestions  apply  specifically  to  the  choice  of 
varieties  for  commercial  growing.  The  selection  of 
varieties  for  the  home  fruit  garden  is  discussed  in  an- 
other connection,  page  186. 

REMARKS   ON   PARTICULAR   VARIETIES 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  list  of  commercial  vari- 
eties is  a  very  short  one.  Most  of  the  standard  market 
varieties  are  grown  over  a  wide  range  of  territory. 
Indeed  one  of  the  capital  reasons  why  they  are  stand- 
ard market  varieties  is  that  they  will  succeed  under 
many  skies  and  on  a  diversity  of  soils.  Ben  Davis 
is  the  prince  of  all  these  varieties,  and  comes  the  near- 
est to  being  the  universal  apple  of  anything  yet  dis- 
covered. But  Jonathan,  Grimes  and  Red  Astrachan 
are  successful  market  apples  in  two-thirds  of  the  states 
in  the  union. 

There  is  now  an  evident  tendency  toward  length- 
ening the  list  of  commercial  apples.  This  is  manifest 


THE   SELECTION    OF  VARIETIES  IQ5 

in  the  increasing  respect  shown  to  such  secondary 
sorts  as  Mclntosh,  Rome  Beauty  and  Duchess. 

Baldwin  still  reigns  supreme  in  New  England  and 
leads  everything  else  in  New  York  state.  Outside 
this  section  it  is  hardly  known.  It  is  exactly  the  apple 
for  the  ordinary  man.  It  is  an  ordinary  apple. 

Rhode  Island  Greening  belongs  to  the  same  section 
as  Baldwin  and  is  still  a  favorite  apple,  especially  in 
the  New  York  city  market.  But  it  is  losing  favor  with 
growers  on  account  of  scalding  in  storage.  It  is  not 
much  planted  nowadays,  though  it  still  deserves  to  be. 

Northern  Spy  belongs  to  a  zone  slightly  to  the 
north  of  the  Baldwin  district,  thriving  in  northern 
Massachusetts,  central  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont,  northern  New  York  and  in  certain  districts 
in  Michigan  and  Ontario.  It  is  very  fastidious  as 
regards  soil.  It  will  succeed  splendidly  on  one  farm 
and  fail  on  the  next.  It  is  very  slow  to  come  into 
bearing  and  does  not  bear  heavily  even  at  maturity. 
Nevertheless  the  unsurpassed  quality  of  the  fruit  and 
the  high  price  which  it  brings  in  the  market  make  it 
worth  the  attention  of  those  who  can  grow  it  well. 

Ben  Davis  is  grown  everywhere  where  apples  will 
grow  at  all,  and  is  everywhere  profitable.  However, 
it  does  not  pay  so  well  as  Baldwin  or  Spy  or  Grimes 
or  a  dozen  other  varieties  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
can  grow  the  better  varieties.  It  is,  generally  speak- 
ing, suited  to  men  whose  system  of  orchard  manage- 
ment does  not  reach  a  high  standard.  This  is  true 
even  in  the  Mississippi  valley  states,  where  Ben  Davis 
is  most  at  home. 

Gano  will  succeed  almost  anywhere  that  Ben  Davis 
will.  It  is  very -much  like  Ben  Davis,  being  distin- 


196  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

guished  by  more  solid  red  coloring.  It  should  be  used 
to  supplement  Ben  Davis. 

Fameuse  is  the  apple  par  excellence  of  the  French 
Canadian  country,  especially  of  the  Province  of  Que- 
bec and  adjacent  counties  across  the  international 
boundary.  In  this  section  it  reigns  supreme. 

Jonathan  is  probably  the  most  popular  and  most 
profitable  apple  in  the  central  states.  In  that  section 
where  Ben  Davis  has  the  numerical  leadership  Jona- 
than is  looked  on  as  its  superior.  Moreover,  the  more 
expert  apple  growers  are  able  to  produce  Jonathan 
at  a  larger  profit  than  Ben  Davis.  It  is  now  being 
more  widely  planted ;  but  this  wider  planting  is  simply 
;  the  index  of  improving  cultural  systems. 

Grimes  Golden  competes  with  Jonathan  for  suprem- 
acy in  the  same  field.  On  the  whole  it  is  a  shade  more 
expensive  to  produce  than  Jonathan,  but  it  makes  up 
for  this  by  being  even  better  in  quality.  The  most 
heartening  fact  in  the  whole  apple  industry  today  is 
the  wide  planting  of  Grimes  and  Jonathan. 

Winesap  and  its  offspring,  Stayman  Winesap,  are 
being  considerably  planted  in  southern  and  mid-south- 
ern states.  They  are  rather  hard  to  grow,  but  their 
fine  color,  high  quality  and  aroma  make  them  sell  at. 
the  top  of  the  market. 

Yellow  Transparent  and  Red  Astrachan  lead  the 
list  of  first  early  varieties  from  Quebec  to  Louisiana. 
Early  Harvest  and  Carolina  Red  June  come  next  in 
this  list. 

Wealthy  and  Mclntosh  unquestionably  lead  the  list 
of  autumn  varieties.  The  former  succeeds  over  a  wide 
range  of  territory  and  is  fast  gaining  in  popularity. 
Other  valuable  sorts  in  this  group  are  Duchess  and 
Fall  Pippin. 


THE   SELECTION    OF   VARIETIES  197 

Esopus  Spitzenberg,  Northern  Spy  and  Newtown 
Pippin  are  generally  regarded  as  the  standards  of  qual- 
ity. Certain  other  varieties  reach  a  very  high,  probably 
an  equally  high,  standard  of  quality  in  special  circum- 
stances. Of  these  are  Mother  and  Pomme  Royal. 
Certain  men  also  have  a  special  fancy  for  particular 
varieties,  so  that  good  judges  may  express  an  honest 
preference  for  Jeffris,  Fameuse  or  King. 

The  Russets  are  now  seldom  planted  and  seem  to  be 
profitable  only  in  Nova  Scotia  for  shipping  to  British 
markets.  Roxbury  generally  takes  the  lead,  though 
inferior  in  quality  to  Golden  Russet. 

VARIETIES    FOR   VARIOUS   DISTRICTS 

The  varieties  which  succeed  best  in  each  locality 
can  be  easily  pointed  out,  and  this  is  worth  doing  if 
people  will  not  be  misled  by  it.  There  are  exceptions 
to  all  rules,  and  to  these  generalizations  most  of  all. 

The  following  lists  are  carefully  made  up  from  many 
sources,  but  chiefly  from  the  direct  testimony  of  the 
largest  and  most  successful  commercial  apple  growers 
in  each  locality.  The  intention  has  been  to  name  only 
the  leading  commercial  varieties  or  such  as  have  an 
established  reputation. 

Nova  Scotia. — Baldwin,  Roxbury  (Nonpareil),  Ben 
Davis,  Wagener. 

Quebec. — Fameuse,  Mclntosh,  Rosseau  (Pomme  de 
fer),  Alexander,  Duchess,  Wolf  River. 

Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont. — Baldwin, 
Spy,  Ben  Davis,  Rhode  Island  Greening,  Wealthy, 
Mclntosh,  Gravenstein.  In  the  northern  counties  of 
these  three  states  the  Quebec  list  would  be  preferred. 

Massachusetts. — Baldwin  above  all  others.    Wealthy 


198  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE    ORCHARD 

and  Mclntosh  are  highly  profitable  where  properly 
grown.  Williams  Favorite  leads  the  list  of  early  ap- 
ples. 

Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island. — Baldwin,  Ben 
Davis,  Wealthy,  Mclntosh,  Duchess,  Rome  Beauty. 

New  York. — This  is  the  leading  apple-growing 
state,  the  bulk  of  the  crop  being  produced  in  the  west- 
ern counties.  Baldwin  leads.  Then  follow  Rhode 
Island  Greening,  Spy,  Hubbardston,  Ben  Davis, 
Wealthy,  and  Fall  Pippin.  Many  other  varieties  suc- 
ceed when  properly  handled. 

New  Jersey. — Proximity  to  the  New  York  city 
markets  makes  early  varieties  relatively  profitable. 
Carolina  Red  June,  Early  Harvest,  Red  Astrachan 
and  Yellow  Transparent  are  successful.  Later  ripen- 
ing sorts  which  are  grown  are  Smith  Cider,  Ben  Davis 
and  York  Imperial. 

Pennsylvania. — The  southern  and  southwestern  por- 
tions of  the  state  should  be  counted  with  West  Vir- 
ginia in  apple  growing.  The  central  counties  succeed 
best  with  Baldwin,  Winesap  and  York  Imperial. 
Wealthy  is  also  being  grown  to  some  extent ;  also  Jon- 
athan, Grimes  and  Rome  Beauty. 

Delaware  and  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland. — On 
this  low  coast  plain  apple  growing  has  once  been  aban- 
doned but  has  recently  been  rehabilitated  in  a  vastly 
improved  form.  This  section  now  produces  chiefly 
early  apples  for  the  markets  of  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore  and  other  nearby  cities.  Leading  va- 
rieties are  Red  Astrachan,  Yellow  Transparent,  Fourth 
of  July,  Williams  Favorite,  Early  Ripe  and  Early 
Strawberry.  Later  ripening  sorts  which  are  also 
grown  are  Winesap,  Stayman  Winesap,  Grimes  and 
the  ubiquitous  Ben  Davis. 


THE    SELECTION    OF   VARIETIES  199 

Virginia. — The  eastern  tidewater  counties  generally 
grow  the  same  varieties  as  the  Chesapeake  peninsula. 
The  northwestern  counties  belong  with  West  Virginia. 
The  central  and  south  central  counties  are  noted  for 
the  famous  Albemarle  Pippins.  (Pomologists  gen- 
erally regard  this  as  a  local  name  for  Yellow  New- 
town.) 

West  Virginia,  including  western  Maryland  and 
adjoining  counties  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  Here 
is  a  thriving,  booming  commercial  apple  district,  grow- 
ing Ben  Davis  of  course,  but  also  Grimes  and  Jona- 
than. Besides  these  we  may  find  Gano,  York  Im- 
perial, Rome  Beauty  and  Mammoth  Black  Twig. 

North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. — The 
mountainous  portions  of  these  three  states  have  large 
tracts  of  excellent  apple  land  now  being  developed. 
The  industry  is  not  so  well  established  as  to  have 
settled  upon  any  list  of  varieties.  Ben  Davis  and  Gano 
are  grown,  of  course,  and  for  shipping  south  these  are 
probably  as  good  as  any.  Yates  is  a  variety  coming 
into  prominence  in  this  section.  Shockley  is  also 
profitable.  Other  varieties  grown  more  or  less  are 
Grimes,  Rome  Beauty  and  York  Imperial.  In  the 
mountain  sections  the  very  early  varieties  do  not  seem 
to  be  so  satisfactory,  but  Red  Astrachan,  Carolina  Red 
June,  Yellow  Transparent  and  Early  Harvest  are 
grown  for  market  to  some  extent. 

Ontario  produces  large  quantities  of  export  apples, 
the  surplus  being  destined  largely  for  the  British 
markets.  Baldwin  is  the  leading  variety,  though 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  Spy,  Roxbury,  Ben  Davis, 
Stark  and  many  other  sorts  are  grown.  Alex  McNeill, 


2OO  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

a  high  authority,  says  that  very  early  and  very  late 
varieties  pay  best. 

Michigan. — This  state  grows  a  long  list  of  apples, 
Baldwin  leading,  but  by  a  greatly  reduced  majority  as 
compared  with  New  York  and  New  England.  Other 
market  varieties  are  Jonathan,  Ben  Davis,  Stark, 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  Spy,  Hubbardston,  Twenty 
Ounce,  Duchess,  Wealthy  and  the  usual  list  of  early 
apples. 

Indiana  and  Illinois. — Ben  Davis,  Gano,  Jonathan, 
Grimes,  Winesap,  Willow  Twig,  Rome  Beauty;  and 
also  the  early  varieties,  such  as  Duchess,  Yellow 
Transparent,  Benoni  and  the  mid-season  Wealthy. 

Kentucky  and  Tennessee. — Ben  Davis,  Gano,  Wine- 
sap,  Grimes,  Jonathan,  Paragon  and  the  early  varieties. 

Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  South  Dakota. — Wealthy 
leads,  Duchess  stands  second.  Other  varieties  are 
Northwestern  Greening,  Patten  Greening  and  Ma- 
linda, 

Iowa,  Nebraska  and  Northern  Missouri. — Ben 
Davis,  Gano,  Missouri  Pippin,  Duchess,  Grimes, 
Northwestern  Greening,  Jonathan. 

Arkansas  and  Southern  Missouri. — Ben  Davis, 
Gano,  Winesap,  Paragon,  Grimes,  Jonathan,  Mam- 
moth Black  Twig. 

Kansas  and  Oklahoma. — Ben  Davis,  Missouri  Pip- 
pin, Winesap,  Jonathan,  Grimes,  York  Imperial. 

Texas — Mostly  early  varieties  for  northern  ship- 
ment— Red  June,  Red  Astrachan,  Early  Harvest  and 
Yellow  Transparent.  Also  to  some  extent  Winesap, 
Jonathan  and  Ben  Davis. 

Montana. — Duchess,  Wealthy,  Alexander,  Mcln- 
tosh,  Wagener. 


THE    SELECTION    OF   VARIETIES  2OI 

Colorado. — This  state  has  several  different  apple 
districts  quite  different  in  their  character  and  require- 
ments. The  varieties  mostly  grown,  however,  are 
those  of  Kansas — that  is,  Ben  Davis  and  Gano,  Grimes 
and  Jonathan,  with  Winesap,  Rome  Beauty  and 
Wealthy  following. 

The  Pacific  Coast. — While  the  Pacific  coast,  from 
British  Columbia  to  California,  is  a  large  district,  and 
while  the  apple-growing  localities  are  widely  sepa- 
rated, the  leading  commercial  varieties  are  much  the 
same  throughout  the  area.  Yellow  Newtown  and 
Esopus  Spitzenberg  are  the  leading  varieties,  but  they 
are  closely  followed  by  Jonathan.  Then  comes  Belle- 
flower,  Arkansas  Black  and  Winesap,  with  a  few  other 
varieties  of  decidedly  minor  importance. 

KEEPING  QUALITY   OF  VARIETIES 

The  behavior  of  different  varieties  in  storage  is  a 
matter  of  vital  importance  in  the  handling  of  the  com- 
mercial apple  crop.  The  length  of  time  to  which  ap- 
ples may  be  expected  to  keep  in  merchantable  condi- 
tion is  of  especial  interest.  The  following  general 
principles  are  fairly  well  established: 

1.  Apples  grown  in  a  northern  latitude  or  high  al- 
titude will  keep  longer  than  apples  of  the  same  variety 
grown  farther  south  or  at  a  lower  altitude. 

2.  Apples    from   old    or   mature  trees    will    keep 
longer  than  the  same  varieties  grown  on  young  trees. 

3.  Fruit  from  sandy  soil  will  usually  keep  longer 
than  the  same  sorts  grown  on  clay  or  loam. 

4.  Well-colored,  well-ripened  fruit  will  keep  longer 
in  good  condition  than  fruit  not  fully  ripe.     This  is 


2O2 


THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 


contrary  to  the  general  opinion  and  is  subject  to  pos- 
sible slight  exceptions  in  the  case  of  fruit  grown  ^n 
young  and  very  vigorous  trees. 

It  has  been  fully  proved  also  that  the  manner  in 
which  the  fruit  is  handled  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
its  behavior  in  storage.  The  fruit  should  be  carefully 
hand  picked,  handled  the  least  possible,  and  placed 
in  storage  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  The  com- 
mon practice  of  allowing  apples  to  lie  in  piles  in  the 
orchard  for  several  days  or  even  weeks  is  especially 
reprehensible. 

The  following  list,  based  on  the  latitude  of  New 
York  state,  shows  as  nearly  as  practicable  the  market 
and  storage  season  of  the  leading  varieties.  The  table 
is  made  up  from  various  sources,  but  special  attention 
has  been  given  to  the  results  secured  by  G.1  Harold 
Powell  in  his  extensive  storage  experiments. 


Variety                                  Ready  for  use         Storage  limit 

Alexander                             Oct. 

1             Nov.  15 

Arctic                                    Dec. 

1             Mar.     1 

Arkansas                               Jan. 

1              May      1 

Arkansas  Black                   Feb. 

1              June     1 

Bailey  Sweet                        Nov. 

15             Feb.    15 

Baldwin                                Dec. 

1              May    15 

Beach 

an. 

1 

une     1 

Ben  Davis 

an. 

1 

uly      1 

Black  Gilliflower 

Mov. 

15 

an.       1 

Cannon  Pearmain                ^ 

an. 

1 

Vtay      1 

Carlough 

an. 

1 

une     1 

Coffelt                                     ; 

an. 

1 

une     1 

Cogswell 

"an. 

1 

une     1 

Colvert 

Vov. 

15 

an.    15 

Cooper  Market 

an. 

1 

une     1 

Cullen 

an. 

15 

une     1 

Esopus  (Spitzenberg) 
Fallawater 

^ov. 
STov. 

1              April    1 
1              April    1 

Fall  Pippin                           Oct. 
Fameuse                                Oct. 

15              Jan.      1 
15              Feb.      1 

Fanny                                   Oct. 
Fishkill                                 Nov. 

15              Jan.      1 
1              Jan.      1 

THE    SELECTION    OF   VARIETIES  2O3 

Variety  Ready  for  use         Storage  limit 


Gano 

Dec.    15 

May      1 

Gideon 

Nov.     1 

Jan.      1 

Gilpin 

Dec.      1 

Mar.   15 

Golden  Russet 
Gravenstein 

Jan.      1 
Oct.      1 

June     1 
Dec.      1 

Grimes 

Nov.     1 

Jan.    15 

Haas 

Oct.      1 

Dec.      1 

Holland 

Nov.     1 

Jan.      1 

Hubbardston 

Nov.     1 

Feb.      1 

Huntsman 

Dec.   IS 

Apr.      1 

Hurlbut 

Nov.     1 

Feb.    15 

Ingram 
Ivanhoe 
Jacob  (Sweet) 

Jan.      1 
Jan.      1 
Dec.    15 

Apr.    15 
May      1 
Mar.     1 

Jeffris 

vSept.     1 

Oct.    15 

Jonathan 

Dec.   15 

Apr. 

Lady  Sweet 
Lankford 

Jan.      1 
Jan.    1  5 

May 

May 

Lawver 

Feb.      1 

J^y 

Leicester 

Oct.    15 

Jan. 

Limbertwig 

Feb.     1 

July 

Longfield 

Sept.  15 

Dec.      1 

Loy 

Jan.      1 

April    1 

Mclntosh 

Oct.      1 

Jan.    15 

McMahon 

Oct.      1 

Dec.      1 

Magog 

Nov.     1 

Jan.    15 

Maiden  Blush 

Oct.      1 

Dec.   15 

Mann 
Melon  (Norton's) 

Feb.      1 
Nov.     1 

July      1 
Feb.      1 

Milden 

Dec.   15 

Mar.     1 

Minkler 

Dec.   15 

Mar.   15 

Missouri  (Pippin) 
Mother 

Jan.      1 
Oct.      1 

April  15 
Mar.   15 

Munson  (Sweet) 

Oct.    15 

Jan.    15 

Nero 

Nov.     1 

Feb.      1 

Newtown  Spitzenberg 

Jan.      1 

Mar.   15 

Northern  Spy 

Jan.      1 

April  15 

Northwestern  (Greening) 

Jan.      1 

June     1 

Oldenburg  (Duchess) 

Sept.  15 

Dec.   15 

Ontario 

Dec.   15 

Mar.   15 

Paragon 

Dec.    15 

Mar.  15 

Peck  (Pleasant) 
Pewaukee 
Pumpkin  Sweet 

Jan.      1 
Jan.      1 
Oct.    15 

May      1 
May   15 
Jan.      1 

Rails 
Rambo 

Jan.      1 
Nov.  15 

April    1 
Mar.      1 

Red  Canada 

Jan.      1 

May      1 

204 


THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 


Variety                                  Ready  for  use 

Storage  limit 

Red  Russet                           J 

an.      1 

May 

1 

Rhode  Island  (Greening)  I 

)ec.    15 

April 

1 

Rome  (Beauty)                     J 

an.      1 

April 

1 

Roxbury  (Russet) 
Salome 

an.    15 
an.      1 

June 
May 

15 

Scarlet  Cranberry 

an.      1 

May 

Scott  Winter                         J 

'an.      1 

April 

Shiawassee 

)ct.      1 

Dec. 

Smith  Cider                           Dec.    15 

Feb. 

1 

Stark                                     Feb.      1 

July 

Stayman  Winesap 
Sutton 

an.      1 
an.      1 

April 
Mar. 

15 

Swaar                                     , 

an.      1 

May 

1 

Tolman  (Sweet) 

an.      1 

May 

1 

Tompkins  King 
Twenty  Ounce 
Wagener 

Dec.    15 
Vov.     1 
Nov.     1 

May 
Jan. 
Feb. 

1 

15 
1 

Walbridge                              Dec. 

April 

1 

Washington  Royal              Nov.     1 
Wealthy                                Sept.  15 

Jan. 
Feb. 

15 
1 

Westfield                               Jan. 
Willow  (Willow  Twig)        Jan.    15 
Winesap                                 Nov. 
Wolf  River                           Oct.    15 

May 
June 
Mar. 
Feb. 

1 
1 

15 
1 

Yellow  Belleflower 

Nov.  15 

April 

15 

Yellow  Newtown 
York  Imperial 

Tan.      1 
Jan.      1 

May 
Feb. 

1 

15 

XX 

CATALOG  OF  VARIETIES 

THERE  are  several  books  which  give  at  length  the 
descriptions  of  varieties  of  apples.  One  who  aspires  to 
be  an  expert  pomologist  must  own  a  considerable  library 
of  such  books.  Most  of  these  books  are  large  ones, 
showing  that  the  subject  is  burdened  with  endless 
details,  the  methodical  study  of  which  forms  the  science 
of  systematic  pomology.*  Obviously  a  modest  hand 
book  of  practical  apple  culture  cannot  undertake  to 
include  full  descriptions  of  all  varieties.  In  place  of 
this  we  shall  give  only  a  moderate  list  of  the  best  known 
varieties  with  greatly  condensed  descriptions. 

The  fruit  grower  may  confront  himself — as  mostly  he 
does — with  the  knowledge  that  he  is  not  required  to 
know  or  identify  many  varieties.  If  he  is  a  strictly  up- 
to-date  grower  he  will  cultivate  only  half  a  dozen  varie- 
ties, or  even  less.  These  he  must  know  perfectly.  He 
must  know  all  their  smallest  points — their  ins  and  outs — • 
their  weaknesses  and  idiosyncrasies — their  diseases  and 
their  preferences — as  he  knows  the  members  of  his  own 
family.  But  other  varieties  have  only  a  general  and 
distant  interest  for  him. 

Following  is  the  variety  list: 
Alexander. — Large,  conic,  red,  coarse  fleshed,  good,  early  fall.     A 

showy  apple,  but  not  usually  profitable. 
Anisim. — Small,  conic,  yellow  red,  good,  medium. 
Arctic. — Large,  conic,  red,  very  good,  late.     Tree  hardy  and  a  good 

grower. 

Arkansas. — Large,  oblate,  red,  good,  late. 
Autumn  Bough. —  Medium,    conic,    greenish    yellow,    sweet,    fair, 

medium  dessert.  • 

*  Consult  Waugh's  Systematic  Pomology,  Orange  Judd  Co.,  New  York. 
For  extended  descriptions  of  apples  consult  Beach,  The  Apples  of  New  York ; 
Downing,  Fruits  and  Fruit  Trees  of  North  America;  Thomas.  Fruit  Culturist: 
Warder,  American  Pomology;  Budd-Hansen,  American  Pomology. 

205 


2O6  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

Autumn  Swaar. — Medium,  conic,  red,  fair,  early,  dessert. 

Babbitt. — Medium,  round,  red,  fair,  late. 

Bailey. — Large,  round,  red,  sweet,  good,  late.     One  of  the  best  of 

the  sweets. 

Baker. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellowish  red,  fair,  late. 
Baldwin. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late.     The  lead- 
ing variety  in  New  York.  New  England  and  Nova  Scotia.     A 

reliable,  profitable  market  sort  for  ordinary  culture. 
Beach. — Medium,  oblong,  red,  very  good,  very  late. 
Belmont. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  late,  dessert. 
Belle  Bonne. — Medium,  ovate,  greenish  yellow,  good,  late. 
Ben  Davis. — Medium,  ovate,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late.     The 

great  stand-by.     Profitable  over  large  areas,  but  especially  in 

the  middle  states. 
Benoni. — Small,    oblate,   yellow  red   striped,   good  early,  dessert. 

Profitable  for  certain  local  markets. 
Bentley. — Medium,  round,  red,  sweet,  fair,  very  late. 
Bethel. — Medium,  oblate,  conical,  yellow  striped,  very  good,  late. 
Bietigheimer. — Very  large,  oblate,  conic,  red,  poor,  medium. 
Black. — Medium,  oblate,  dark  red,  poor,  late,  dessert. 
Bledsoe. — Medium,  oblate,  striped,  good,  early. 
Blenheim. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late. 
Blue  Pearmain. — Large,  conic,  dark  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Bonum. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium,  dessert. 
Borovinka. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  medium, 

dessert. 

Bough. — Medium,  conic,  yellow,  sweet,  good,  early,  dessert. 
Bradford. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late. 
Broadwell. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  sweet,  good,  late. 
Bryan. — Medium,  conic,  red,  very  good,  early. 
Buckingham. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellowish  red,  good,  late. 
Bullock  (American  Golden  Russet). — Small,  oblate,  conic,  yellow 

russet,  very  good,  late,  dessert.     Formerly  grown  for  market, 

but  now  no  longer  planted. 

Buncombe. — -Medium,  oblong,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  late. 
Camack. — Medium,  conic,  reddish  green,  sweet,  poor,  late. 
Canada  Baldwin. — Medium,  ovate,  red,  fair,  late. 
Canada  Reinette. — Medium,  oblate,  conic  irregular,  green  russet, 

good,  late. 

Carlough. — Medium,  conic,  greenish  yellow,  fair,  late. 
Carolina  Beauty. — Medium,  oblong,  dark  red,  good,  late. 
Carter  Blue. — Medium,  oblate,  greenish  red,  fair,  medium,  dessert. 
Champlain. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 
Charlamoff. — Medium,  conic,  red  striped,  acid,  fair,  early. 
Chenango  (Strawberry). — Medium,  oblong  conic,  yellow  red,  good, 

early.     Showy  and  of  good  quality,  suitable  for  local  markets. 
Christmas. — Small,  round,  yellow  red  striped,  acid,  fair,  medium. 
Clark  Pearmain. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  red,  fair,  medium. 


CATALOG  OF  VARIETIES  2O? 

Clayton. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  very  late. 

Clyde  Beauty. — Medium,  oblate  irregular,  green  red,  poor,  late. 

Cogswell. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  good,  late. 

Collins. — Medium,  oblate,  striped,  good,  late. 

Colton. — Medium,  round,  yellow,  good,  early  dessert. 

Cooper. — Large,  oblate,  irregular,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  medium. 

Cooper  Market. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair 
early  dessert. 

Cornell  Fancy. — Small,  oblong,  conic  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  early, 
dessert. 

Cracking. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  medium 

Cross. — Small,  oblong,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 

Cullasaga. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  late. 

Danvers. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow,  sweet,  fair,  late. 

Derby.— Medium,  irregular,  red,  good,  late. 

Domine. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 

Donneghan. — Medium,  round,  green,  sweet,  good,  medium. 

Doyle. — Large,  medium  season.  » 

Dutch  Mignonne. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  late. 

Dyer. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  best,  medium,  dessert. 

Early  Cooper. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  early. 

Early  Harvest. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  white  very  good,  very 
early.  One  of  the  best  early  varieties 

Early  Joe. — Small,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  very  good, 
early,  dessert.  One  of  the  best  early  apples. 

Early  Pennock. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  early. 

Early  Ripe. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow,  poor,  early. 

Early  Strawberry. — Small,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  early. 

English  Russet. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  early. 

Esopus. — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  red,  best,  late,  dessert.  One  of 
the  finest  American  apples,  but  tree  poor  and  subject  to  dis- 
ease. Is  sometimes  top-worked  on  better  trees.  Grown  com- 
mercially on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Evening  Party. — Small,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late,  dessert. 

Ewalt. — Large,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  late. 

Fallawater. — -Very  large,  conic,  yellow  green  red,  fair,  late. 

Fall  Jenneting. — Medium,  oblate,  irregular  conic,  yellow  red,  poor. 
medium. 

Fall  Orange. — Large,  round,  yellow  red,  poor,  medium. 

Fall  Pippin. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  medium. 
An  excellent  and  profitable  fall  variety. 

Fall  Wine. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  very  good,  medium,  des- 
sert. 

Fameuse. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  very  good,  medium, 
dessert.  A  prime  favorite  in  Quebec,  and  a  leading  commer- 
cial variety  in  that  section. 

Family. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium, 
dessert. 


2C>8  THE    AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

Fanny. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  red  striped,  fair,  early. 

Fink. — Small,  oblate,  white  yellow  red,  poor,  very  late.' 

Foundling. — Large,  ovate,  red  striped,  good. 

Fulton. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  good. 

Gano. — Medium,   oblate,  irregular,   yellow  red  striped,   fair,  late. 

Much  like  Ben  Davis  but  more  highly  colored.      Profitable] 

especially  in  the  central  Mississippi  valley. 
Garden  Royal. — Small,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  best,  early, 

dessert.     For  family  use  only. 
Garrettson. — Medium,  conic,  yellow,  poor,  early. 
Garfield. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  red  striped,  very  good,  late. 
Gideon. — Medium,  conic,  yellow,  acid,  small,  early. 
Gilbert. — Medium,  oblong,  red,  good,  late. 
Gilpin. — Small,  oblong,  red  yellow,  poor,  very  late. 
Glass  Green. — Medium,  ovate,  yellow  striped,  poor,  early. 
Golden  Russet.— Small,  oblate,  yellow  russet,  fair,  very  late. 
Golden  Sweet. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow,  sweet,  fair,  early. 
Golding. — Medium,  <oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 
Gravenstein. — Large,    oblate,    irregular,    yellow    red,    very    good, 

medium.     Grown  for  market  in  Maine  and  Nova  Scotia. 
Green  Cheese. — Medium,  oblate,  irregular,  yellow,  good,  late. 
Green  Newtown. — Medium,  irregular,  green  red,  very  good,  very  late. 
Grimes  Golden. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow,  best,  late,  dessert. 

Profitable    in    Kansas    and   neighboring   states   when   highly 

cultivated. 

Haas. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 
Hagloe. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  early. 
Hall. — Small,  oblate,  conic,  red,  fair,  late,  dessert. 
Hewes. — Small,  round,  yellow,  acid,  very  poor,  medium,  cider. 
Hibernal. — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  red  striped,  acid,  poor,  medium . 

Very  hardy.     The  tree  is  used  for  top-grafting  in  the  northwest 
Hightop  Sweet. — Small,  round,  yellow,  sweet,  fair,  early,  dessert. 
Hockett. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  sweet,  poor,  late. 
Hoover. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  striped,  fair,  late. 
Hope  we  11. — Large,  oblate,  striped,  good,  early. 
Horn. — Small,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late. 
Horse. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  early. 
Hubbardston. — Medium,   round,   ovate,   yellow  red  striped,   very 

good,  late.     Profitable  in  some  places  in  Massachusetts   and 

New  York. 
Hunt    Russet. — Small,    oblate,    conic,    yellow   russet,    good,    late, 

dessert. 

Huntsman. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 
Ingram. — Medium,  oblate,  striped,  very  good,  early. 
Irish  Peach. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  good,  medium,  early. 
Isham  Sweet. — Medium,  oblong,  red,  fair,  late.     One  of  the  best 

sweets. 
Jacobs  Sweet. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  sweet,  good,  late. 


CATALOG  OF  VARIETIES  2OQ 

Jeffris. — Medium,    oblate,    conic,  yellow  red  striped,  very  good, 

early  dessert. 
Jersey  Sweet. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  sweet, 

good,  medium. 

Jewett. — Medium,  oblate,  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Jonathan. — Medium,   conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  late.     A  fine 

apple  and  profitable  in  central  states  and  on  the  Pacific  slope. 

Judson. — Medium,  conic,  red  striped,  poor,  medium,  early, 
ulian. — Medium,  conic,  red  striped,  poor,  early,  dessert, 
uly  (Fourth  of). — Small,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  very  early. 

Profitable  first  early  out  in  middle  and  southern  latitudes. 
Junaluskee. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow,  fair,  late,  dessert. 
Kent  Beauty. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red,  poor,  medium. 
Kernodle. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  striped,  good,  very  late. 
Keswick. — Fair,  conic  irregular,  yellow  red,  acid,  fair,  medium. 
Kinnard. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  irregular,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 
Kirkbridge. — Small,  oblong,  irregular,  yellow  russet,  poor,  early. 
Krouser. — Medium,  red  striped,  fair,  very  late. 
Lady. — Very  small,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  late.     Finds  a  special 

Christmas  market   in   Boston  and   New  York  and  is    worth 

growing  in  small  quantity. 

Lady  Sweet. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  green  red,  sweet,  good,  late. 
Lankford. — Medium,  conic,  green  red,  good,  late. 
Lansingburg. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  poor,  very  late. 
Late  Strawberry. — Medium,  conic,  red  striped,  fair,  medium,  des- 
sert. 

Lawver. — Medium,  oblate,  red,  fair,  very  late. 
Lehigh. — Medium,  yellow,  fair,  very  late. 
Lily. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  green,  good,  early. 
Limbertwig. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  very  late. 
Longfield. — Medium,  conic,  yellow,  poor,  early.     Profitable  when 

well  grown.     Requires  high  cultivation. 
Louise. — Oblate,  fair,  late,  dessert. 
Lowe. — Large,  oblong,  yellow,  fair,  early. 
Lowell. — Large,  oblong,  yellow,  fair,  early. 
McAfee. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  green  red,  late. 
Mclntosh. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium,  late.     One 

of  the  most  profitable  varieties  and  succeeds  over  wide  range 

of  territory. 
McLellan. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium, 

dessert. 
McMahon. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red,  poor,  medium.    A  good  tree 

suitable  for  top-grafting. 

Magog. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  late. 
Maiden  (Blush). — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  early. 
Malinda. — Medium,    conic,    yellow   red,    fair,    very    late.     Hardy 

Minnesota. 


2IO  THE   AMERICAN    APPLE   ORCHARD 

Mangum. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  medium, 

dessert. 
Mann. — Medium    oblate,   yellow  green,   poor,   very  late.     A  late 

keeper  and  a  good  low-priced  market  variety. 
Margaret. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  early,  dessert. 
Mason. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  late,  dessert. 
Maryland. — Small,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Mattamuskeet. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  poor,  late. 
Maverack. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  sweet,  fair,  late. 
Melon. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  late. 
Millboy. — Medium,  conic,  red,  fair,  medium,  dessert. 
Milwaukee. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late.     Hardy. 

A  promising  recent  introduction. 
Minster. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium, 

late. 

Minkler. — Medium,  conic,  yellowish  red,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Missouri  (Pippin). — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late. 

Profitable  in  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Arkansas. 
Monmouth. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 
Moore  Sweet. — Medium,  oblate,  red,  sweet,  fair,  late. 
Mother. — Medium,  round,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  medium, 

late,  dessert.     A  fine  dessert  apple,  but  hard  to  grow. 
Munson. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  sweet,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Nansemond. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late 
_Nero. — Medium,  oblate,  red,  fair,  late. 

Newell. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Newtown  Spitzenberg. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped, 

good,  late  dessert. 

Nickajack. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  poor,  late. 
Northern  Spy. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  very  good, 

medium  late.     This  good  old  variety  will  bring  the  top  price 

when  well  grown.     It   is  very  fastidious    regarding  soil  and 

situation,  and  slow  about  coming  into  bearing. 
Northfield. — Medium,  oblate,  red  yellow  striped,  good,  medium, 

early. 
Northwestern  (Greening). — Large,  conic,  green  yellow,  fair,  late. 

A  good  variety  in  the  northern  Mississippi  valley. 
Nottingham. — Large,  oblong,  yellow  red,  good,  late. 
Noyes. — Medium,  oblate,  red  yellow,  good,  early. 
Oconee. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red,  poor,  medium. 
Ogle. — Medium,  oblate,  red,  good,  very  late. 
Ohio  Nonpareil. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 
Ohio  Pippin. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red,  acid,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Okabena. — Small,  oblong,  red  striped,  poor,  medium,  early. 
Oldenburg. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  acid,  fair,  early 

Sometimes  profitable. 

Oliver. — Medium,  red,  good,  medium,  late. 
Ontario. — Small,  oblong,  yellow  red,  acid,  fair,  early. 


CATALOG   OF   VARIETIES  211 

Ortley. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red,  good,  medium,  late. 
Paragon. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red,  good,  late. 
Patten  (Greening). — Large,  round,  yellow,  fair,  medium,  late.    Con- 
siderably planted  in  Iowa  and  Minnesota. 
Peach. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Pease. — Large,  oblong,  red  yellow,  good,  medium,  early. 
Peck  (Pleasant). — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  good,  late. 
Peerless. — Small,  oblate,  round,  striped,  fair,  late. 
Perfection. — medium,    round,    yellow   red    striped,    fair,    medium, 

early. 

Perry  Russet. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  russet,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Peter. — Medium,  round,  green  yellow,  fair,  medium. 
Pewaukee. — Large,   oblate,   yellow  red  striped,   poor,   late.     Tree 

hardy. 

Plumb  Cider. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium. 
Pomme  Gris. — Small,  oblate,  yellow  russet  red,  very  good,  medium, 

late,  dessert.     An  attractive  small  russet  apple,  much  liked  in 

Canada. 
Porter. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  medium. 

A  favorite  fall  apple  in  New  England,  but  badly  attacked  by 

apple  maggot. 
Primate. — Medium,  conic,   yellow  red,  very  good,   early,  dessert. 

High  quality,  but  badly  attacked  by  apple  maggot. 
Pryor  (Red). — Medium,  oblate,  irregular,  green  yellow  red,  very 

good,  late. 
Pumpkin  Sweet. — Large,  round,  green  white,  sweet,  fair,  medium, 

late.     A  favorite  home  use  apple  with  some  families,  but  not 

now  often  seen  in  the  market. 

Quince. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow,  acid,  fair,  early. 
Rails. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  very  late. 

Grown  commercially  in  the  central  states. 
Rambo. — Medium,  oblate,  white  yellow  red,  good,  medium. 
Ramsdell. — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  red,  sweet,  fair,  medium. 
Raspberry. — Small,  oblong,  irregular,  red,  fair,  medium,  early. 
Red  Astrachan. — Medium,  conic,  red  green  yellow,  acid,  fair,  early. 

A  fairly  useful  first  early  variety. 

Red  Canada. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good,  late. 
Red  June. — Small,  ovate,  conic,  red  striped,  fair,  very  early.     A 

profitable  early  variety  in  Delaware  and  neighboring  states. 
Red  Stripe. — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  white  red  striped,  fair,  early. 
Rhode  Island  (Greening).' — Medium,  oblate,  green  yellow,  acid,  good, 

late.     Formerly  very  profitable  and  widely  grown  in  eastern 

states.     Now  not  so  much  planted.     Requires  careful  manage- 
ment. 
Ribston. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  acid,  good,  late.     A  fine 

dessert  fruit  when  well  grown. 

Ridge. — Medium,  conic,  irregular,  yellow  russet,  fair,  late. 
Rolfe. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  medium. 


212  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

Romanite. — Small,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late,  dessert. 

Roman  Stem. — Medium,  round,  white,  yellow  red,  very  good,  late. 

A  good  home  apple  in  the  central  states. 
Rome  (Beauty). — Large,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium, 

late. 
Roxbury. — Medium,    round,    oblate,    yellow    russet,    good,    late. 

Under  the  name  Nonpareil  this  variety  is  still  considerably 

grown  in  Nova  Scotia  for  the  British  market. 
Russell. — Round,  ovate,  yellow  red,  good,  early,  dessert. 
Russian  Baldwin. — Medium,  oblate,  round,  green  red  striped,  good, 

late. 

Salome. — Medium,  round  oblong,  yellow  red,  good,  very  late. 
Saint  Johnsbury. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red  striped,  sweet,  good, 

late. 
Saint  Lawrence. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  striped  fair, 

medium.     A  valuable  apple  in  Quebec. 
Scott   Winter. — Small,  round,  conic,  red  striped,  acid,  fair,  late. 

Tree  hardy. 

Shiawassee. — Medium,  oblate,  white  red  striped,  good. 
Shockley. — Small   conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 

Smith  Cider. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Smokehouse. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium,  late. 
Sops  of  Wine. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  fair,  early,  dessert. 
Stark. — Large,  oblong,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late.     Tree 

strong  and  hardy.     Though  of  poor  quality  this  variety  has 

proved  profitable  in  Nova  Scotia  and  northeastern  states. 
Starkey. — Medium,    oblate,    conic,    round,    yellow   striped,    good, 

medium,  late. 
Stayman  Winesap. — Large,  conic,  red,  very  good,  late.     A  seedling 

of  Winesap,  and  in  some  ways  an  improvement  on  the  parent. 
Stephenson. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 
Sterling. — Large,  conic,  yellow  red,  good,  late,  dessert. 
Summer  King. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  early. 
Summer    Pearmain. — Medium,    conic,    red   russet,    best,    medium, 

dessert. 
Summer  Queen. — Medium,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  acid,  fair, 

early 
Summer  Rose. — Small,  round,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  very  early, 

dessert. 
Sutton. — Medium,   oblate,   conic,   yellow  red  striped,   good,   late. 

Worth  planting  commercially  in  Massachusetts  and  New  York. 
Swaar. — Medium,  oblate,  green  yellow,  good,  late,  dessert.     Worth 

planting  for  home  use. 

Sweet  Winesap. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  red,  sweet,  good,  late. 
Switzer. — Medium,  round,  red,  fair,  early. 
Taunton. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  acid,  fair, 

medium. 
Terry  Winter. — Small,  round,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 


CATALOG   OF   VARIETIES  213 

Tetofski. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  acid,  poor, 
early.  A  Russian  apple  of  some  value  for  first  early. 

Titovka. — Medium,  oblate,  conic  irregular,  yellow  red  striped,  fair, 
medium.  A  hardy  Russian. 

Tolman. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow,  sweet,  fair,  late.  A  favorite  sweet 
apple,  now  unprofitable  by  reason  of  the  attacks  of  the  apple 
maggot. 

Tompkins  King. — Large,  oblate  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  very 
good,  late.  A  splendid  apple,  and  was  formerly  considerably 
grown.  Is  still  grown  to  some  extent  in  New  York.  Tree  a 
light  bearer  and  subject  to  disease. 

Townsend. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 

Trenton  Early. — Medium,  conic,  irregular,  yellow  green,  good, 
early. 

Twenty  Ounce. — Very  large,  round, yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium, 
late.  Formerly  grown  for  market,  but  now  generally  super- 
seded. 

Utter. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium.     Hardy. 

Vandevere. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  medium. 

Vanhoy. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  late. 

Virginia  Greening. — Large,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 

Wagener. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red  striped,  late.  Good  quality 
when  well  grown,  and  sometimes  profitable,  especially  in  Nova 
Scotia. 

Walbridge. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair  late 
Sometimes  proves  profitable. 

Washington. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  good,  early. 

Watson. — Large,  oblate,  conic,  red  striped,  fair,  early,  dessert. 

Wealthy. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  striped  fair,  medium.  One 
of  the  most  widely  successful  and  profitable  of  autumn  varie- 
ties. 

Westfield  (Seek-no-further). — Medium,  conic,  red,  very  good,  me- 
dium. Sometimes  profitable  in  Massachusetts  and  New  York, 
but  not  much  planted  now. 

Wetmore. — Medium,  round,  red,  good,  late. 

Whinery. — Medium,  round,  conic,  red  striped,  fair,  late. 

White  Juneating. — Small,  round,  yellow  red,  fair,  early,  dessert. 

White  Pearmain. — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  yellow  red,  very  good, 
late. 

White  Pigeon. — Medium,  conic,  russet  yellow,  sweet,  fair,  early. 

White  Pippin. — Medium,  round,  oblate,  yellow  red,  very  good,  late. 

Williams  (Favorite). — Medium,  oblong,  conic,  red,  fair,  early.  A 
first -class  early  apple,  profitable  in  parts  of  New  York  and  New 
England. 

Willow  Twig. — Medium,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  very  late. 
'  A  hard,  late-keeping  apple  of  some  commercial  importance  in 
the  central  Mississippi  valley. 

Windsor. — Medium,  round,  yellow  red.  fair,  mediunu  late. 


214  THE   AMERICAN   APPLE   ORCHARD 

Wine. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  fair,  late. 

Winesap. — Medium,  oblong,  yellow  red,  acid,  good,  very  late.  Tree 
weak  and  subject  to  disease,  for  which  reason  the  variety  can 
seldom  be  grown  at  a  profit.  Fruit  of  high  quality,  however, 
and  a  favorite  for  home  use. 

Winter  St.  Lawrence. — Medium,  round,  red  striped,  good,  late, 
dessert.  A  good  and  profitable  apple  in  lower  Ontario  and 
Upper  Quebec. 

Wolf  River. — Very  large,  oblate,  red  striped,  fair,  medium.  Tree 
hardy,  fruit  showy.  Adapted  to  northern  and  exposed  localities. 

Yates. — Small,  oblate,  conic,  yellow  red  striped,  fair,  very  late. 

Yellow  Belle  flower. — Large,  oblong,  conic,  yellow  red,  acid,  very 
good,  late.  Formerly  a  favorite  in  the  eastern  states,  but  now 
grown  commercially  chiefly  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Yellow  Newtown. — Medium,  oblate,  yellow  red,  acid,  best,  very 
late.  A  favorite  in  California  and  in  Virginia  (under  the  name 
of  Albermarle).  A  variety  of  high  quality  where  well  grown. 

Yellow  Transparent. — Medium,  conic,  yellow,  acid,  fair,  early. 
Very  hardy.  Adapted  to  the  cold  regions  of  northern  New 
England  and  Quebec.  Sometimes  profitable  for  sale  in  local 
markets,  but  too  tender  for  shipping  far. 

Yopp. — Large,  conic,  yellow  red,  fair,  medium. 

York  Imperial. — Medium,  oblate,  irregular,  lop-sided,  yellow  red 
striped,  fair,  late.  This  is  a  really  successful  commercial 
variety  in  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia  and  neighboring  states. 


INDEX 


Page 

Apple  maggot 107 

Apple     regions 1 

Arsenate   of  lead 142 

Arsenite  of  lime 143 

Barrel  press 166 

Barrels     158 

Bitter  rot 114 

Blight     119 

Bordeaux    mixture 131 

Borers     104 

Boxes  for  apples 160 

Canker     113 

Catalog    of    varieties 205 

Codling    moth 105 

Combined   insecticides 

and     fungicides 144 

Compressed    air    sprayers  127 
Copper    sulphate    solution  136 

Cover    crops 69 

Cultivation,    methods     of 

53,   63 
Cultivation      of      bearing 

orchards 60 

Cultivation,     tools 63 

Curculio     108 

Diseases Ill 

Distance    for   planting. . .      24 

Double   planting 27 

Double-working    46 

Dust  sprays 145 

Dwarf  apples 185 

Exposures    7 

Fall     vs.      spring     plant- 
ing          23 

Family    orchard 182 

Feeding   the   trees 94 

Fertilizers 94 

Gas  power  sprayers 129 

Geography   of    apple 

growing     1 

Grading  apples 157 

Harvesting    and    market- 
ing        149 

High  heads  vs.  low  heads     78 

Hitchings     method 48 

Insect    campaign 99 

Interplanting     28 

Keeping   quality 201 

Lime-sulphur     mixture...    137 

Mechanical    pickers 151 

Mice    121 

Nursery    inspection 17 

Nursery   trees 17 


Page 

Objects    of    cultivation..  50 

Odd   years 89 

Orchard  cultivation 48 

Oyster  shell  bark  louse.  .  108 

Packing  apples 166 

Packing    in    boxes 168 

Painting    wounds 91 

Paris    green 141 

Picking    baskets 153 

Picking    ladders 153 

Picking    the    fruit 149 

Planting    methods 41 

Planting   out    the   trees.  .  40 

Planting    tables 25 

Power    sprayers 125 

Preparation    for   planting  38 

Propagation    20 

Propagation   methods.  ...  22 

Pruning     77 

Pruning   tools 91 

Rabbits    121 

Railroad   worm 107 

Refrigeration   175 

Remarks  on  particular 

varieties    194 

Renovation      of     old     or- 
chards       188 

Rules     for    choosing    va- 
rieties       187 

San  Jose  scale 99 

Scab    112 

Scald    116 

Selection  of  varieties 192 

Soils    5 

Soluble   oils 144 

Sorting    apples 155 

Spray    solutions 131 

Spraying    campaign......  147 

Spraying    machinery 123 

Spraying   rules 146 

Starting  the  orchard 17 

Steam    sprayers 127 

Storage     171 

Storage    houses 173 

Stringfellow   system 38 

Sun   scald 120 

Tillage    48 

Time   to  prune 90 

Traction    sprayers 125 

Varieties  for  various  dis- 
tricts       197 

Windbreaks    8 

Winterkilling     14 


215 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


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268716 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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